Computational analysis of asymmetric water entry of wedge and ship section at constant velocity

Abstract

Water impact problems receive much attention due to their short duration and large unsteady component of hydrodynamic loads. The effect of water entry has several important applications in various aspects of the naval field. Significant attention has been given to various water entry phenomena such as ship slamming, planning hulls, high-speed hydrodynamics of seaplanes, surface-piercing propellers and the interaction of high-speed liquid drops with structural elements. Asymmetric water entry may be caused by various natural phenomena such as weather conditions or strong winds. Since the determination of hydrodynamic impact load plays a vital role in designing safe and effcient vessels, an accurate and reliable prediction method is necessary to investigate asymmetric water entry problems. In this paper, water entry of a two-dimensional wedge and ship section at constant velocity in asymmetric condition will be analysed numerically and the effects of asymmetric impact on the velocity and pressure distribution will be discussed. The finite volume method is employed to solve the dynamic motion of the wedge in two-phase flow. During the water entry, the air and water interface is described implicitly by the volume of fluid (VOF) scheme. The numerical code and method was first validated for symmetric condition by one of the present author is applied for asymmetric wedge and ship section. The free surface, velocity and pressure distribution for asymmetric water entry are investigated and visualized with contour plots at different time steps.