Water entry of an expanding body with and without splash

Abstract

A self-similar flow generated by water entry of an expanding two-dimensional smooth and curved body is studied based on the incompressible velocity potential theory, with gravity and surface tension effects being ignored. At each expansion speed, mathematical solutions for detached flow with a splash jet and attached flow with jet leaning on the body surface are obtained, both of which have been found possible in experiment, corresponding to hydrophobic and hydrophilic bodies, respectively. The problem is solved using the integral hodograph method, which converts the governing Laplace equations into two integral equations along the half real and imaginary axes of a parameter plane. For the detached flow, the conditions for continuity and finite spatial derivative of the velocity at the point of flow departing form the body surface are imposed. It is found that the Brillouin–Villat criterion for flow detachment of steady flow is also met in this self-similar flow, which requires the curvatures of the free surface and the body surface to be the same at the detachment point. Solutions for the detached flow have been obtained in the whole range of the expansion speeds, from zero to infinity, relative to the water entry speed. For the attached flow there is a minimal expansion speed below which no solution cannot be obtained. Detailed results in terms of pressure distribution, free surface shape and streamlines and tip angle of the jet are presented. It is revealed that when solutions for both detached and attached flows exist, the pressure distributions on the cylinder surface are almost the same up to the point near the jet root. Beyond that point, the pressure relative to the ambient one drops to zero at the detachment point in the former, while it drops below zero in the jet attached on the body and then returns to zero at the contact point in the latter.