Motion Characteristics of High-Speed Supercavitating Projectiles Including Structural Deformation

High-speed supercavitating projectiles receive tremendous hydrodynamic force when flying underwater in tail-slap mode, and have obvious structural deformation and structural vibration. To study the motion characteristics of high-speed supercavitating projectiles, a bidirectional fluid-structure interaction model was established, and validated by comparing with the existing results. The motion, supercavitation flow field, and structural deformation response process of a supercavitating projectile were numerically investigated under the conditions of initial speed within 800–1600 m/s. It was found that the tail-slap motion of high-speed supercavitating projectiles is correlated with a high-frequency structural vibration. Further, the amplitude of the structural vibration increases with the initial speed. When flying with an initial speed higher than 1200 m/s, supercavitating projectiles encounter a great structural deformation under the action of the huge hydrodynamic load, which exerts a significant influence on the motion characteristic, and even destroys the trajectory stability. Thus, the supercavitating projectile cannot be regarded as a rigid body any more, and the structural response effect must be considered.