On the flow characteristics of two supercavitating projectiles moving in water side-by-side

Abstract

Multiple projectiles moving in water often encounter problems such as motion disturbance from adjacent body and unsteady cavity coupling, making the flow structure and motion characteristics very complex. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is employed to model two parallel supercavitating projectiles moving in water side-by-side. The cavity characteristics and flow details around the two projectiles are presented, and the variation of mutual disturbance with axis distance and flow velocity are analyzed. Numerical results show that the two cavities feature good mirror symmetry, and the influence of axis distance and flow velocity on the cavity contour is mainly reflected in the varying cavity diameter and length. It is found that the parallel projectiles repel each other at different axis distances and flow velocities. It is more easily for the parallel projectiles to achieve supercavitating motion state than a single projectile due to the flow interaction between the twin projectiles.