Numerical investigation of the hydrodynamics of a submarine with pump-jet propulsor in oblique sailing under wave-current coupling

Abstract

Abstract The influence of surface waves on the hydrodynamic performance of a submarine could be significant when a submarine is in drift process near the water surface. In this study, the hydrodynamic and self-propulsion performance of the submarine installed a pump-jet propulsor (PJP) considered wave and current coupling were numerically investigated under different drift angle conditions. It is found that the submarine′s drift angle has a significant effect on the flow field distribution. When yawing commences, the yaw force and moment gradually increase. The non-dimensional lateral force at a drift angle of 20° is 88% larger than that at 5°, and the yaw moment is 61% larger. When there are incident waves, due to the presence of wave components, the thrust deduction factor and the wake fraction obtained by the submarine self-propulsion are slightly greater than those in conditions without incident waves. Furthermore, the effects of the superposition of the wave generated by the submarine’s oblique sailing on the submarine propulsion performance is investigated, also, the Vector AutoRegressive (VAR) model is used to analyze the submarine propulsion performance caused by the waves on the free surface.

Keywords

• Submarine
• Pump-jet propulsor
• Self-propulsion performance
• Oblique sailing
• Coupled wave-current flows