Research on Fluid Dynamic Layout of Blend Wing Body Underwater Glider with Tail

Abstract

As a new type of autonomous underwater vehicle, the underwater glider realizes attitude control in the vertical plane by adjusting the relative position of its weight and buoyancy center and converts the vertical motion into horizontal motion by means of the wing, so that the glider glides in the ocean with a zigzag trajectory. At present, most of the underwater gliders use the layout of the torpedo housing installed wings, but this is not its optimal fluid dynamic layout. Because of a new shape design, the Blended-Wing-Body(BWB) underwater glider has been proven to have excellent hydrodynamic performance, such as lift to drag ratio. However, underwater gliders are often subjected to various small perturbations during their movement, thus affecting their original course; At the same time, underwater gliders also need the ability of changing the direction of movement. Therefore, the study of its lateral stability and maneuverability issues makes sense. This paper introduces the design of aircraft vertical stabilizer and rudder to the underwater glider and simulates it to explore the influence of the tail structure on the lift to drag ratio, lateral stability and maneuverability.