• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.214-224
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• 2021

Recently, as the technology of the supercavitating underwater vehicle is improved, the necessity of research for maneuvering characteristics of the supercavitating underwater vehicle has emerged. In this study, as a preliminary step to analyzing the maneuverability of a supercavitating underwater vehicle, the characteristics of cavity shapes and hydrodynamic forces generated in a supercavitating underwater vehicle with an angle of attack were evaluated numerically. First, the geometry was designed by modifying the shape of the existing supercavitating underwater vehicle. The continuity and the Navier-stokes equations are numerically solved, and turbulent eddy viscosity is solved by the k-ω SST model. The results present the characteristics of cavity shape and the hydrodynamic forces of the designed geometry with an angle of attack.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.206-221
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• 2015

Supercavitation is a modern technique which can be used to surround an underwater vehicle with a bubble in order to reduce the resistance of the vehicle. When the vehicle is at low speed in the deep sea, the cavitation number is relatively big and it is difficult to generate a cavity large enough to envelope the vehicle. In this condition, the artificial cavity, called ventilated cavity, can be used to solve this problem by supplying gas into the cavity and can maintain supercavitating condition. In this paper, a relationship between the ventilation gas supply rate and the cavity shape is determined. Based on the relationship a ventilation rate control is developed to maintain the supercavitating state. The performance of the ventilation control is verified with a depth change control. In addition, dynamics modeling for the supercavitating vehicle is performed by defining forces and moments acting on the vehicle body in contact with water. Simulation results show that the ventilation control can maintain the supercavity of an underwater vehicle at low speed in the deep sea.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2017

Supercavitation is one of the most attractive technologies to achieve high speed for underwater vehicles. However, the multiphase flow with high-speed around the supercavitating vehicle (SCV) is difficult to simulate accurately. In this paper, we use modified the turbulent viscosity formula in the Standard K-Epsilon (SKE) turbulent model to simulate the supercavitating flow. The numerical results of flow over several typical cavitators are in agreement with the experimental data and theoretical prediction. In the last part, a flying SCV was studied by unsteady numerical simulation. The selected computation setup corresponds to an outdoor supercavitating experiment. Only very limited experimental data was recorded due to the difficulties under the circumstance of high-speed underwater condition. However, the numerical simulation recovers the whole scenario, the results are qualitatively reasonable by comparing to the experimental observations. The drag reduction capacity of supercavitation is evaluated by comparing with a moving vehicle launching at the same speed but without supercavitation. The results show that the supercavitation reduces the drag of the vehicle dramatically.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2016

This paper defines the design constraint in consideration of the dynamic characteristics and stability in the longitudinal direction of a supercavitating vehicle. Available range of the design variables is calculated by numerical simulation and the cavity modeling of vehicle dynamics is performed first. Configuration parameters of the supercavitating vehicle to determine the vehicle dynamics and characteristics of the cavity are defined as design variables. Design constraints are supercavitation, trim velocity, stability and vehicle dynamics in transition phase. Numerical results show that in accordance with the change of the design variables, the proposed design constraints reflect the physical characteristics of the supercavitating vehicle. This research finds the design region where the constraints of supercavity and the trim velocity are satisfied, and the stability analysis refines the design results by excluding the region where the stability is not guaranteed. The stability analysis is particularly important for a vehicle with the short fin span.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2017

Cavitation is used in various fields. This study examined the drag reduction of an underwater vehicle using cavitation. In this study, the natural partial cavitation analysis results were verified using CFD code with the Navier-Stokes equation based on a mixture model. The momentum and continuity equations in the mixture phase were separately solved in the liquid and vapor phases. The solver employs an implicit preconditioning algorithm in curvilinear coordinates. The results of a computational analysis showed good agreement with the experiment. A computational analysis was also performed on the supercavity. The study investigated the cavity characteristics and drag of an underwater vehicle and studied the speed required to achieve a supercavity. Finally, a 1DOF analysis was carried out to investigate the thrust system for a supercavity. As a result, one of the methods for determining a suitable thrust system for a supercavitating underwater vehicle was presented.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.208-212
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• 2018

In this paper, we focus on planing avoidance control for a supercavitating underwater vehicle based on the potential function method. The planing margin can be calculated using the relative position between the cavity center and vehicle center at the end of the vehicle. The planing margin was transformed into a limit variable such as the pitch angle and yaw angle limit. To prevent the vehicle attitude from exceeding the limit variable, a potential function based planing envelope protection method was proposed. The planing envelope protection system overrides commands from the tracking controller, and the vehicle attitude converges to a desired angle, in which the potential function is minimized. Numerical simulations were performed to analyze the physical feasibility and performance of the proposed method. The results showed that the proposed methods eliminated the planing, allowing the vehicle to follow tracking commands.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.88-98
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• 2014

A supercavitation is modern technology that can be used to reduce the frictional resistance of the underwater vehicle. In the process of reaching the supercavity condition which cavity envelops whole vehicle body, a vehicle passes through transition phase from fully-wetted to supercaviting operation. During this phase of flight, unsteady hydrodynamic forces and moments are created by partial cavity. In this paper, analytical and numerical investigations into the dynamics of supercavitating vehicle in transition phase are presented. The ventilated cavity model is used to lead rapid supercavity condition, when the cavitation number is relatively high. Immersion depth of fins and body, which is decided by the cavity profile, is calculated to determine hydrodynamical effects on the body. Additionally, the frictional drag reduction associated by the downstream flow is considered. Numerical simulation for depth tracking control is performed to verify modeling quality using PID controller. Depth command is transformed to attitude control using double loop control structure.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.435-448
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• 2021

This study describes the depth and straight motion control performance depending on control surface combinations of a supercavitating underwater vehicle. When an underwater vehicle experiences supercavitation, friction resistance can be minimized, thus achieving the effect of super-high-speed driving. Six degrees of freedom modeling of the underwater vehicle are performed and the guidance and control loops are designed with not only a cavitator and an elevator, but also a rudder and a differential elevator to improve the stability of the roll and yaw axis. The control performance based on the combination of control surfaces is analyzed by the root-mean-square error for keeping depth and straight motion.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.201-209
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• 2016

Supercavitation is a technology that reduces frictional resistance of an underwater vehicle by surrounding it with bubbles. Supercavity is divided into natural supercavity and ventilated supercavity which is formed by artificially supplying gas. Planing forces are present when a section of the underwater vehicle goes outside of the cavitation region in the supercavity condition. Planing often leads to an unstable flight because it acts vertically on the body suddenly. In this paper, a relationship between the ventilation rate and the cavitation number is determined. Based on the relationship, desired cavitation number which can avoid to planing is determined and then ventilation controller is designed. The performance of the ventilation controller is verified with a depth change controller using the cavitator. Simulation results show that the ventilation controller can minimize the planing force and moment.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.75-82
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• 2018

Wedge-shaped fins are generally used to provide sufficient forces and moments to control and maneuver a supercavitating vehicle. There are four fins placed along the girth of the vehicle, near he tail: two of the fins are horizontal and the other two fins are vertical. In a fully developed supercavitating flow condition, a part of the fin is in a cavity pocket and the other is exposed to water. In this paper, experimental investigations of hydrodynamic characteristics of the wedge-shaped fin models are presented. Experiments were conducted at a cavitation tunnel of the Chungnam National University. We first closely observed the typical formation of wake cavitation and measured lift and drag forces acting on two different test models. Next, using a special device for generating natural and artificial supercavities, we investigated hydrodynamic forces at different cavitation number conditions. This work provides a basis for interpreting the cavity stability and hydrodynamic characteristics of the wedge-shaped control fin for a supercavitating vehicle.