Water-exit dynamics of a ventilated underwater vehicle in wave environments with a combination of computational fluid dynamics and machine learning

Abstract

A ventilated vehicle exiting water in a wave environment is a complex nonlinear process, and the mechanism by which the wave conditions influence this process remains poorly understood. This paper describes realistic simulations of a ventilated vehicle exiting a water body under various wave conditions. Comprehensive analysis is conducted for a range of distinct wave scenarios, and a machine learning-based method is developed for the rapid forecasting of vehicle-related parameters. A three-layer backpropagation neural network is constructed, and its prediction performance is verified. Subsequently, predictive and optimization procedures are employed to determine the optimal wave phase for the water exit of the vehicle. Different wave conditions are shown to significantly affect the evolution of the ventilated cavity as well as the kinematic and loading characteristics of the vehicle. The pitch angular velocity and angle at the moment when the head of the vehicle reaches the free surface exhibit a positive cosine trend under different wave conditions. No regularity of the pitch angular velocity at the moment when the tail reaches the free surface is evident. The neural network exhibits exceptional proficiency in predicting the motion parameters and load characteristics of the vehicle. The optimal point for the vehicle to exit the water is determined to be at a wave phase of 0.125π, while the most hazardous point occurs when the wave phase is 1.1875π.