Numerical investigation of skipping stones using a hybrid volume of fluids and boundary data immersion method

Abstract

Water skipping is a common physical phenomenon that represents a complex multiphase fluid–structure coupling problem involving a gas, liquid, and solid. This phenomenon is observed in various scenarios, such as seaplane landings, the entry and exit of amphibious aircraft on water surfaces, and even the slamming of a ship bow, all of which involve intricate water skipping dynamics. Therefore, skipping dynamics hold significant research value and offer broad practical applications. In this paper, a numerical method involving the volume of fluid method and boundary data immersion method is presented to study the fluid–structure interaction of a disk undergoing water skipping. Moreover, the six degrees of freedom motion of the rigid disk is described by unit quaternions. We validated the accuracy of our numerical method through comparisons with the experimental data. The results show good agreement on the disk's trajectory and cavity evolution. Furthermore, we studied the influence of the rotational angular velocity on the disk's trajectory, velocity, acceleration, hydrodynamic force, and cavity dynamics. As the angular velocity increases, the disk undergoes shorter collision durations with the water, diminished alterations in the azimuth angles, faster exit velocities, and faster velocity attenuations.