Research on the multiphase flow interference and motion characteristics of vehicles during an underwater salvo

Abstract

A cavitation flow can greatly impact a vehicle's attitude and stability when leaving water. This paper adopts an improved delayed detached eddy turbulence model and Schnerr–Sauer cavitation model as well as the volume-of-fluid method and an overlapping grid technique to investigate this effect. The simulation method used for the cavitation model is validated. The interference effects of a transient multiphase flow, collapse loads, and the motion instability of vehicles during an underwater salvo are studied. The results show multiple obvious pressure peaks during the process of cavity collapse, which do not overlap significantly. Instead, they are sequentially arranged from the top to the end of the bubble, and the synchronous collapse pressure peak is much stronger than the other pressure peaks. The synchronous collapse pressure has a high peak and a short pulse width, and its action position is at the bottom of the shoulder cavity. The salvo time interval is zero, the launch depth is equal to the length of the vehicle, the initial cavitation number is 0.233, and the lateral launch spacing is varied from 2 times the diameter to 5 times the diameter. When the lateral spacing is in the range of 4 times the diameter to 5 times the diameter, the effect of flow interference on the underwater travel and water exit stages disappears.