Applications and research utilizing supercavitation for high-speed underwater flight has motivated study of the phenomenon. In this work, a small scale laboratory experiment for studying supercavitating projectiles has been designed, built, and tested. Similar existing experimental work has been documented in literature but using large, elaborate facilities, or has been presented with ambiguous conclusions from test results. The projectiles were 63.5 mm in length and traveled at speeds on the order of 145 m/s. Measurement techniques are discussed and used to record projectile speed, supercavity dimensions, and target impact location. Experimental observations are compared with a six degrees-of-freedom dynamics simulation based on theoretical models presented in literature for predicting supercavity shape and hydrodynamic forces on the supercavitating projectile during flight. Experimental observations are discussed qualitatively, along with quantitative statistics of the measurements made. Successful operation of the experiment has been demonstrated and verified by agreement with theoretical models.

1.
Knapp
,
R.
,
Daily
,
J.
, and
Hammitt
,
F.
, 1970,
Cavitation
,
McGraw-Hill
,
New York
.
2.
Jenkins
,
A.
, and
Evans
,
T.
, 2004, “
Sea Mine Neutralization Using the AN/AWS-2 Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System
,”
IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings
.
3.
Schaffar
,
M.
,
Rey
,
C.
, and
Boeglen
,
G.
, 2005, “
Behavior of Supercavitating Projectiles Fired Horizontally in a Water Tank: Theory and Experiments. CFD Computations With the OTi-HULL Hydrocode
,”
35th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference and Exhibit
, Toronto, ON, Canada.
4.
Hrubes
,
J. D.
, 2001, “
High-Speed Imaging of Supercavitating Underwater Projectiles
,”
Exp. Fluids
0723-4864,
30
, pp.
57
64
.
5.
GS Custom Bullets
, URL http://gscustom.co.zahttp://gscustom.co.za (accessed March 2009).
6.
Tulin
,
M. P.
, 2001, “
Fifty Years of Supercavitating Flow Research in the United States: Personal Recollections
,”
Int. J. Fluid Mech. Res.
1064-2277,
28
(
5
), pp.
692
701
.
7.
May
,
A.
, 1975, “
Water Entry and the Cavity-Running Behavior of Missiles
,” NAVSEA Hydroballistics Advisory Committee, NTIS, Silver Spring, MD, Technical Report No. SEAHAC/TR 75-2.
8.
Vlasenko
,
Y. D.
, 2003, “
Experimental Investigation of Supercavitation Flow Regimes at Sub-Sonic and Transonic Speeds
,”
Fifth International Symposium on Cavitation
, Osaka, Japan.
9.
Savchenko
,
Y. N.
, 2001, “
Experimental Investigation of Supercavitating Motion of Bodies
,”
RTO AVT Lecture Series on Supercavitating Flows at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics
, Rhode St. Genése, Belgium.
10.
Schaffar
,
M. J.
,
Rey
,
C. J.
, and
Boeglen
,
G. S.
, 2002, “
Experiments on Supercavitating Projectiles Fired Horizontally Into Water
,”
Proceedings of ASME Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting
, Montreal, QC, Canada.
11.
Mostafa
,
N.
,
Nayfeh
,
A.
,
Vlachos
,
P.
, and
Telionis
,
D.
, 2001, “
Cavitating Flow Over a Projectile
,”
39th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Fluid Dynamics Conference
, Reno, NV.
12.
Fowler
,
K. R.
,
Sheeham
,
J.
, and
Silver
,
S.
, 2005, “
Simplified and Inexpensive Experimental Setups for Studying Supercavitation
,”
Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference
, Ottowa, Canada.
13.
Wu
,
X.
, and
Chahine
,
G.
, 2007, “
Characterization of the Content of the Cavity Behind a High-Speed Supercavitating Body
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
0098-2202,
129
, pp.
136
145
.
14.
Wosnik
,
M.
,
Schauer
,
T. J.
, and
Arndt
,
R. E. A.
, 2003, “
Experimental Study of a Ventilated Supercavitating Vehicle
,”
Fifth International Symposium on Cavitation
, Osaka, Japan.
15.
Cameron
,
P. J. K.
,
Rogers
,
P. H.
, and
Doane
,
J. W.
, 2010, “
The Effects of External Pressure Fields on a Free-Running Supercavitating Projectile
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
0001-4966,
128
(
6
), pp.
3381
3392
.
16.
Kiceniuk
,
T.
, 1954, “
An Experimental Study of the Hydrodynamic Forces Acting on a Family of Cavity-Producing Conical Bodies of Revolution Inclined to the Flow
,” Hydrodynamics Laboratory California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, Technical Report No. E-12.17.
17.
Kulkarni
,
S. S.
, and
Pratap
,
R.
, 2000, “
Studies on the Dynamics of a Supercavitating Projectile
,”
Appl. Math. Model.
0307-904X,
24
, pp.
113
129
.
18.
Self
,
M.
, and
Ripken
,
R. F.
, 1955, “
Steady-State Cavity Studies in a Free-Jet Water Tunnel
,” St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory Report No. 47.
19.
Garabedian
,
P. R.
, 1956, “
Calculation of Axially Symmetric Cavities and Jets
,”
Pac. J. Math.
0030-8730,
6
, pp.
611
689
.
20.
Bevington
,
P. R.
, and
Robinson
,
D. K.
, 1992,
Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences
, 2nd ed.,
McGraw-Hill
,
New York
.
21.
Holman
,
J. P.
, 2001,
Experimental Methods for Engineers
, 7th ed.,
McGraw-Hill
,
New York
.
22.
Franc
,
J.
, and
Michel
,
J.
, 2004,
Fundamentals of Cavitation (Fluid Mechanics and Its Applications)
, 1st ed.,
Kluwer Academic
,
Dordrecht, The Netherlands
.
23.
Vasin
,
A. D.
, 2001, “
The Principle of Independence of the Cavity Sections Expansion (Logvinovich’s Principle) as the Basis for Investigation on Cavitation Flows
,”
RTO AVT Lecture Series on Supercavitating Flows at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics
, Rhode St. Genése, Belgium.
24.
Paryshev
,
E. V.
, 2006, “
Approximate Mathematical Model in High-Speed Hydrodynamics
,”
J. Eng. Math.
0022-0833,
55
, pp.
41
64
.
25.
Kirschner
,
I. N.
,
Fine
,
N. E.
,
Uhlman
,
J. S.
, and
Kring
,
D. C.
, 2001, “
Numerical Modeling of Supercavitating Flows
,”
RTO AVT Lecture Series on Supercavitating Flows at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics
, Rhode St. Genése, Belgium.
26.
Gadd
,
G. E.
, and
Grant
,
S.
, 1965, “
Some Experiments on Cavities Behind Disks
,”
J. Fluid Mech.
0022-1120,
23
(
4
), pp.
645
656
.
27.
Kirschner
,
I. N.
,
Kring
,
D. C.
,
Stokes
,
A. W.
,
Fine
,
N. E.
, and
Uhlman
,
J. S.
, 2002, “
Control Strategies for Supercavitating Vehicles
,”
J. Vib. Control
1077-5463,
8
(
2
), pp.
219
242
.
28.
Ahn
,
S. S.
, 2007, “
An Integrated Approach to the Design of Supercavitating Underwater Vehicles
,” Ph.D. thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.
29.
Ruzzene
,
M.
,
Kamada
,
R.
,
Bottasso
,
C. L.
, and
Scorcelletti
,
F.
, 2008, “
Trajectory Optimization Strategies for Supercavitating Underwater Vehicles
,”
J. Vib. Control
1077-5463,
14
(
5
), pp.
611
644
.
30.
Logvinovich
,
G. V.
, 1980, Some Problems in Planing Surfaces [sic], translated from Ónekotoryyi voprosy glissirovaniya i kavitatsii [Some Problems in Planing and Cavitation], Trudy TsAGI 2052.
31.
Taub
,
A. E.
, and
Thomas
,
M. A.
, 1983, “
Comparison of CEP (Circular Error Probable) Estimators for Elliptical Normal Errors
,” Naval Surface Weapons Center, Dahlgren, VA, Technical Report No. P001580.
32.
Przemieniecki
,
J. S.
, 2000,
Mathematical Methods in Defense Analyses
, 3rd ed.,
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.
,
Reston, VA
.
33.
Duncan
,
R. C.
,
Knapp
,
R. G.
, and
Miller
,
M. C.
, 1983,
Introductory Biostatistics of the Health Sciences
, 2nd ed.,
Delmar
,
Albany, NY
.
You do not currently have access to this content.