Unsteady Cavitation Evolution and Hydrodynamic Responses of an Underwater-Launched Vehicle Exiting Waves of Varying Heights

Abstract

Ocean waves induce cavitation asymmetry and unsteady loads for underwater-launched vehicles during water exit, yet the quantitative regulation mechanism of wave height remains unclear. A numerical wave tank coupling VOF-LES, fifth-order Stokes wave and dynamic fluid-body interaction models is established. Results show that increasing wave height drastically enhances crest-phase cavitation asymmetry by raising the positive effective angle of attack to 2.64°, compressing upstream cavities while making downstream cavities expand, rupture and detach. Pressure fluctuations shift from concentrated peaks to dispersed high-frequency pulses, and the downstream collapse pressure peak reaches 6 times that of the upstream side. This intensifies lateral load asynchrony, causing significant vehicle yaw along wave propagation with largely increased lateral displacement and deflection angle. In contrast, the trough phase only shows a slight rise in the absolute negative effective angle, with weak cavitation asymmetry, uniform pressure distribution and superior disturbance resistance. The trough phase effectively mitigates high-pressure impacts from asymmetric cavitation collapse. This work reveals the phase-dependent regulation of wave height on cavitation and hydrodynamics, providing quantitative guidance for launch stability optimization.

Keywords

Cavitation / Stokes wave / Wave height / Collapse load / Trajectory

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Harbin Engineering University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

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