The Effect of Water Compressibility on a Rigid Body Movement in a Water-filled Duct Driven by Compressed Air

Abstract

The motion of a projectile initiated by the release of highly pressurized air is simulated presuming the flow field as a two dimensional one. The effects of water compressibility on projectile movements are investigated, comparing results based on the Fluent VOF model where water is treated as an incompressible medium with those from the presently developed VOF scheme. The present model considers compressibility of both air and water.The Fluent results show that the body moves farther and at higher speeds than the present ones. As time proceeds, the relative difference of speed and displacement between the two results drops substantially, after acoustic waves in water traverse and return the full length of the tube several times. To estimate instantaneous accelerations, however, requires implementation of the water compressibility effect as discrepancies between them do not decrease even after several pressure wave cycles.