Numerical investigations of cavitation nose structure of a high-speed projectile impact on water-entry characteristics

Abstract

In this study, a detailed analysis of the influences of cavitation nose structure of a high-speed projectile on the trajectory stability during the water-entry process was investigated numerically. The Zwart-Gerber-Belamri (Z-G-B) cavitation model and the Shear Stress Ttransport (SST)k-! turbulence model based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method were employed. The numerical methodology was validated by comparing the numerical simulation results with the experimental photograph of cavitation shape and the experimental underwater velocity. Based on the numerical methodology, the disk and the conical cavitation noses were selected to investigate the water-entry characteristics. The influences of cavitation nose angle and cavitation nose diameter of the projectile on the trajectory stability and flow characteristics were carried out in detail. The variation features of projectile trajectory, velocity attenuation and drag were conducted, respectively. In addition, the cavitation characteristics of water-entry is presented and analyzed. Results show that the trajectory stability can be improved by increasing the cavitation nose angle, but the drag reduction performance will be reduced simultaneously. Additionally, due to the weakening of drag reduction performance, the lower velocity of the projectile will cause the damage of the cavitation shape and the trajectory instability. Furthermore, the conical cavitation nose has preferable trajectory stability and drag reduction performance than the disk cavitation nose.