Numerical study of the influence of different water depths on the muzzle flow characteristics of machine gun

Abstract

The mathematical and physical models of the underwater submerged gun are established to study the flow field distribution characteristics of the gun muzzle at different water depths. The Schnerr–Sauer cavitation model and the realizable k–ω transport turbulence model based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes method are employed. The muzzle flow field for the 12.7 mm gun that is submerged launched underwater is numerically simulated by combining user-defined functions and overlapping mesh technology. The flow characteristics of the density, velocity, and pressure fields at the gun muzzle at different water depths are analyzed in detail. The results show that the muzzle flow morphology depends mainly on the pressure at different water depths. The muzzle flow field distribution in deep water is more flat due to the high value of water pressure, which limits the expansion of the muzzle gas, and the range of the velocity field of the muzzle flow field at 100 m is one time smaller than that at 1 m.