Experimental Study on Influence of Ventilation on Trajectory Characteristics of Free Motion of Supercavitating Vehicle

Abstract

In order to study the trajectory characteristics of supercavitating vehicle in free motion, a series of experiments were carried out on an unpowered vehicle under ventilation and non-ventilation conditions respectively. High-pressure gas was utilized to launch the vehicle. The flow pattern in free motion was captured by using a high-speed video camera, the variations in the motion parameters and the cavity pressure were simultaneously recorded by using the internal measuring system. The measured data under ventilation and non-ventilation conditions were analyzed in detail, giving the effect of the ventilation on the motion of the vehicle. The experimental results show that the cavitation number fluctuates around a certain value under the influence of both velocity of the vehicle and the ventilation flow rate, keeping the vehicle to stably move in the supercavitating state. Under non-ventilation condition, the vehicle moves stably at the state of supercavitating and double-cavity closed on at the cylindrical section of the vehicle. But the motion turns into instable when the cavity is closed at the shoulder of the vehicle. Therefore, to reduce the cavitation number by ventilation is beneficial to maintaining the stability of the vehicle.