Bubble Sweep-Down of Research Vessels Based on the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Method

Abstract

To explore the reason for the bubble sweep-down phenomenon of research vessels and its effect on the position of the stern sonar of a research vessel, the use of a fairing was investigated as a defoaming appendage. The separation vortex turbulence model was selected for simulation, and the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian method was adopted to study the characteristics of the bubble sweep-down motion, captured using a discrete element model. The interaction between the bubbles, water, air, and hull was defined via a multiphase interaction method. The bubble point position and bubble layer were calculated separately. The spatial movement characteristics of the bubbles were extracted from bubble trajectories. It was demonstrated that the bubble sweep-down phenomenon is closely related to the distribution of the bow pressure field and that the bubble motion characteristics is related to the speed and initial bubble position. When the initial bubble position is between the water surface and the ship bottom, the impact on the middle of the ship bottom is greater and increases further with increasing speed. A deflector forces the bubbles to both sides through physical shielding, strengthening the local vortex structure and keeping bubbles away from the middle of the ship bottom.