CFD-Based Lift and Drag Estimations of a Novel Flight-Style AUV with Bow-Wings: Insights from Drag Polar Curves and Thrust Estimations

Abstract

To achieve hydrodynamic design excellence in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) largely depends on the accurate prediction of lift and drag forces. The study presents Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based lift and drag estimations of a novel torpedo-shaped flight-style AUV with bow-wings. The horizontal bow-wings are provided to accommodate the electromagnetic arrays used to perform the cable detection and tracking operations near the seabed. The hydrodynamic performance of the AUV due to addition of these horizontal bow-wings is required to be investigated, particularly at the initial design stage. Hence, CFD techniques are employed to compute the lift and drag forces observed by the flight-style AUV, maneuvering underwater at different angles of attack and varying speeds. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Equations (RANSE) closure is achieved by employing the modified k − ϵ model and Two-Scale Wall Function (2-SWF) approach is used for boundary layer treatment. Further, the study also highlights the unique mesh refinement and solution-adaptive meshing techniques to perform the CFD simulations in Solidworks Flow Simulation (SWFS) environment. The drag polar curve for flight-style AUV with and without bow-wings is generated using the computed lift and drag coefficients. The curve provided essential insights for achieving hydrodynamically efficient and optimized AUV design. From the drag polar curve, it is revealed that due to horizontal bow-wings, the flight-style AUV is capable to generate higher lift with less drag and thus, it gives better lift-to-drag ratio compared to the AUV without bow-wings. Moreover, simulated results of axial drag observed by the AUV have also been compared with free-running experimental results and are found in good agreement.

Keywords

Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) / Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) / Solidworks flow simulation (SWFS) / Drag polar curve / Free-running experiments

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