Effects of Lateral Flows on the Supercavitation and Hydrodynamic Characteristics of Underwater Series and Parallel High-Speed Projectiles

Abstract

In this paper, the supercavitation of the parallel and tandem projectiles moving underwater with high-speed under the condition with/without lateral flows is numerically simulated by the volume of fraction (VOF) model. The motion of the projectiles was handled by the overlapping grid and six degrees of freedom (DOF) techniques. The supercavitation evolution and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the projectiles were analyzed for the parallel and tandem projectiles under different conditions. The results show that the cavity shape is symmetrical under the condition without lateral flows, but is no longer symmetrical under the conditions with lateral flows. The asymmetry of the cavity contour increases with the velocity of the lateral flow. For the parallel projectiles, the change trends of the axial velocity of projectile 1 and projectile 2 are nearly the same. The offset velocity of projectile 1 and projectile 2 increases with the increase in the velocity of the lateral flow. The deflection angle of projectile 1 decreases with the increase in the lateral flow velocity but that of projectile 2 increases with the increase in the lateral flow velocity. At t = 3.0 ms, the deflection angle of projectile 2 is up to 20° under the condition of the lateral flow velocity of 11.25%, while the deflection angle of projectile 1 and 2 under other conditions is in the range of 5°. For the tandem projectiles, the axial velocity of projectile 1 gradually decreases. The change trend of the axial velocity of projectile 2 at first is the same as that of projectile 1, and then the change is dependent on the velocity of the lateral flow. Under the condition of the lateral flow velocity with 11.25%Vp, projectile 2 cannot enter the cavity of the front projectile. The change trend of the axial velocity of projectile 2 is similar as but somewhat slower than that of projectile 1. For the parallel projectiles, the ballistic stability of the projectile on the oncoming side is better than that of the projectile on the backflow side. Whether parallel or tandem projectiles, the ballistic stability of projectile 2 becomes worse with the increase in the lateral flow velocity.