Journal of Marine Science and Technology

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-020-00707-8

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Simulation research on water‑entry impact force of an autonomous

underwater helicopter
Chen‑Wei Chen1 · Tongxu Wang1 · Zhuo Feng1 · Yifan Lu1 · Haocai Huang1 · Daxiong Ji1 · Ying Chen1 

Received: 3 January 2018 / Accepted: 8 February 2020

© The Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers (JASNAOE) 2020

Abstract
Autonomous Underwater Helicopter (AUH) is a novel dish-shaped multi-functional submersible vehicle in the autonomous
underwater vehicle (AUV) family. Numerical study of launch and recovery system for AUVs from a research vessel is sig-
nificant in the overall design. Single-arm crane and air-launch way are the important ways of launching AUVs with the high
expertise and security. However, AUVs are still easily subject to a huge impact load which can cause the body damage, mal-
function of electronic components, and other serious accidents when AUVs are launching into water. In this paper, unsteady,
incompressible, two-phase flow with identified boundary conditions was modeled in the computational domain using Volume
of Fluid (VOF) technology, and different overset-grid sizes were set and analyzed to ascertain the accuracy of computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation first due to the setting of the grid which will directly affect the accuracy of the calculation
results, especially the overset-grid convergence validation. Then, the change of water-entry impact force and velocity of
AUH with different water-entry velocities and angles were calculated by CFD analysis software STAR-CCM + solver. The
proper immersion angle of the AUH should be 75° under comprehensive analysis and comparison. Besides, the variations
of pressure distribution of the AUH in the whole water-entry process were also obtained, which provides reference for the
shape optimization in the future work.

Keywords  Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) · Water-entry impact force · Autonomous Underwater Helicopter (AUH) ·
Two-phase flow · Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) · Volume of Fluid (VOF) · Overset-grid technology

1 Introduction truth of the poor maneuverability performance in sway and

Marine resources, including the biological, chemical, min-
eral, and even sea water, own high value of research and
development and are extremely valuable natural resources
[1]. Designing a machine that can replace human beings for
underwater detection and exploration has become increas-
ingly important. In recent years, autonomous underwa-
ter vehicle (AUV) has attracted wide attention for it can
perform underwater investigations such as ocean survey,
seabed detection, and underwater rescue tasks [2]. AUVs
have been widely used with real-time ability to exchange
oceanographic information through the submarine network
and achieve extensive range of activities [3–5]. However, the
structure of traditional torpedo-shaped AUVs conforms the
* Ying Chen
ychen@zju.edu.cn
1
Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000,
China
yaw at low speed due to the added mass and moment, and
motion instability in heaving motion owing to control sur-
face inefficiencies [6]. Therefore, it is necessary to develop
a new type of submersible vehicle which possesses excellent
mobility and functionality, and tackles ultra-mobile under-
water tasks effectively.
The research on the launch and recovery system of AUVs
is significant to overall design process and guarantees the
successful deployment and operation of the AUVs from
the free surface to the deep sea smoothly [7]. At present,
two main methods of AUV launching deployment are often
adopted, i.e., shore-based layout and launching by scien-
tific research ship [8]. The shore-based layout technology
is relatively mature; however, this needs excellent hardware
support and proper sea weather. The launching by a scien-
tific research ship brings great uncertainty under the atro-
cious conditions of sea and other restrictions, which causes
more difficulty. The second method of AUV deployment
includes various forms: laying by a scientific research ship,

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submarine underwater vehicle (UV), and unmanned surface
vehicle (USV). An automated launch and recovery system
for AUVs from an USV was proposed by Edoardo and Man-
har [9].
Scientific research ships are mounted with several launch
and recover devices, conventional laying forms, A-shaped
crane, dedicated single-arm hanging, slide layout, and inte-
grated layout included. The advantages of conventional lay-
ing forms are simple structure and low cost, but the opera-
tion is complex and the safety coefficient is lower. The layout
of A-shaped crane is widely adopted because of its simple
operation. Dedicated single-arm hanging layout system has
a high safety factor, as shown in Fig. 1, and greatly simpli-
fies the operation process and saves the cost [10]. Slide-
type layout system is mainly used in the condition of laying
a number of equipment continuously or different types of
ROV cable. The integrated layout and recovery system has
a small dependence on the scientific research ship and a high
safety factor. The layout of submarine for launching AUVs is
better than that way of the scientific research ship, whereas
recovering the AUVs is opposite procedure. The USV-based
and UV-based layouts need to be further improved in prac-
ticability and reliability.
In addition, the air-launch way is gradually becoming
wider, which can be directly dropped regardless of the
weather conditions, especially in some emergency situations,
and it can quickly reach the target area.
For laying AUV into the water and the impact of the
AUH, scholars conducted a lot of research work. Based on
the theory of potential flow and the precise shape of the
coupling surface between the solid and fluid, Wang et al.
[11] established an oblique water-entry impact model cou-
pled with ballistic and dynamic models. Based on water-
entry dynamic and water-entry ballistic theories, obtained
the greatest impact load, the initial water-entry condition,
and the relation between water-entry impact loads. The
simulation test carried out by Qiu et al.[12] relevant to
the entry-water process of revolution bodies, including
Fig. 1  Launching and recovery system of a single-arm crane
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Journal of Marine Science and Technology
flat head, cone head, and round head, using commercial
software FLUENT with dynamic mesh user-defined func-
tion (UDF) and a mixture (MIXTURE) process model.
The effects of velocity and head shape on the impact load
and shape of cavitation were studied. Shi [13] designed an
inlet cap of the AUV, and analyzed the influence of buffer
cap structure design, material density, buffer distance,
water flow velocity, and buffer effect of initial buffer on
the water-entry angle. Experiments were carried out by Ma
et al. [14] on the vertical infiltration of the sphere to get the
effect of the inflow velocity of the sphere and the surface
condition of the sphere on the bubble of the sphere. The
impact load of full-size AUV model under various entry
conditions and the variation rules of axial and radial forces
during water infiltration were studied by Qi et al. [15]
through experiments and computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) numerical simulation methods. The reference data
of the structural design and projection conditions of the
AUV were provided. Wang and Soares [16] investigated
the hydrodynamic problem of the water impact of three-
dimensional buoys by the explicit finite-element method
with an Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) solver in
which the interface between the solid structure and the
fluids was captured by Volume of Fluid (VOF) method. It
was found that the maximum local pressure occurs when
the hemisphere touched calm water, and the total impact
force on the cone happened after totally immersion.
The setting of the grid will directly affect the accuracy of
the CFD simulation, especially the overset-grid convergence
validation. Overset-grid methods have been developed and
widely used in computational fluid dynamics simulations
for complex geometries with relative motions [17]. Also, the
inter-grid boundary cells are those which on structure the
overlapping layers among the rids for the inter-grid commu-
nication. William [18] described a method for the numerical
solution of high-speed reactive flow in complex geometries
using overlapping grids and block-structured adaptive mesh
refinement. Liu [19] presented an unstructured overset-grid
Journal of Marine Science and Technology
method which has the advantage of guaranteeing a one-cell
overlapping width with no need to post-process or modify
the after hole-cutting grid, to remove the near-wall bound-
ary points.
The basic principle of the VOF method is to determine
the free surface by studying the fluid-to-grid volume ratio
in the grid unit to track fluid changes [20]. VOF method
was used for detailed CFD modelling of gas–liquid flow in
micro-channels and transport layer was presented by Lafme-
jani [21]. Multiphase flow simulations using VOF method in
a representative elementary unit (REU) of the packed col-
umn can provide fundamental insights into the microscale
hydrodynamics, such as interfacial area and liquid holdup
[22].
In response to the shortcomings of traditional AUVs
and the demand for analysis of launching and recovery
motion. A novel dish-shaped multi-functional ultra-mobile
submersible, namely Autonomous Underwater Helicopter
(AUH), was proposed and designed by the Ocean Col-
lege of Zhejiang University in 2016, which can meet much
higher requirements, for instance, functionality in auton-
omy, maneuverability in the horizontal and vertical plane,
adaptive launching and landing on the seabed, and easy to
achieve hovering ability in deep sea.
The concept design of the AUH is shown in Fig. 2, the
AUH can realize the data transmission between different
base stations on the deep-sea environment and accomplish
communication with scientific research vessels near water
free surface. The integrated design of the AUH includes
disk-shaped hull and various instruments, such as energy
power system, control system, navigation system, communi-
cation system, mission payload technology, etc. The mission
payload design technology, i.e., recovering and launching
technology, which can enhance the effectiveness and effi-
ciency of the AUH executing tasks. Since the shortcoming
for quickly AUH launched from air due to the water-entry
impact forces strong enough to damage external propellers,
an improved disk-shaped structure design on the AUH was
Fig. 2  AUH physical prototype designed by ZJU
Fig. 3  G-AUH physical prototype designed by ZJU
implemented, namely G-AUH, proposed in July 2019, as
shown in Fig. 3.
In this paper, we mainly focused the simulation research
on water-entry impact force of hanged initial prototype AUH
based on computational fluid dynamics method. There are
two main types of AUH launching deployment, single-
arm layout and air-launch way. Single-arm layout is often
adopted in the deep sea with lower launching speed. The
air-launch way is mostly used in offshore, and the velocity
depends on the initial entry height.
First, different grid size of overset is set and analyzed
owing to ascertain the accuracy of computational simula-
tion. Subsequently, the numerical analysis of the AUH
deployment with different initial velocities and immersion
angles was carried out when the AUH immersing into water.
Besides that, pressure distribution that can cause inadvert-
ently damage for AUH which mounted with precise sensors
was analyzed. This study can provide important reference
for AUH body structure design and the launching condition
of hanged AUH, which also can enhance effectiveness and
efficiency of the AUH launching work.
2 Model, governing equations, and VOF
methods
2.1 Configuration of the AUH
The simulation research on water-entry impact force of
hanged AUH is mainly made in this paper. The main param-
eters of AUH are shown in Table 1. Earth-fixed coordinate
and body-fixed coordinate are both established to describe
the loads and motion of AUH, as shown in Fig. 4. Both
of the two coordinate systems adopted rectangular coordi-
nate system with the right-hand side rule. The body-fixed
coordinate was located on the center of gravity of the AUH.
The body-fixed coordinate is a translating-rotation coordi-
nate referred to the overset grids in this study. Using the
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Table 1  Main parameters of the disk-shaped AUH The RANS equations are the current focus of compu-
Parameters Symbol Unit Quantitative value tational fluid dynamics research. This method introduces
fewer assumptions and is a method to calculate the viscous
Diameter of the AUH L m 1.0 flow field with higher accuracy. Turbulence models can
Height of the AUH H m 0.45 be used to solve the RANS equations since the equations
Weight W kg 150 are not closed by itself, such as k − 𝜀 model, k − 𝜔 model,
Speed designed V ms−1 0.5144–1.5432 k − 𝜏 model [24]. In this paper, the k − 𝜀 turbulence model
Density of the fresh water 𝜌water kg m−3 1000.00 and the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method simulation tech-
The viscosity coefficient of 𝛾r Pa-s 8.887 × 10−4 nique are adopted to simulate different situations of the
freshwater movement AUH immersing into water.
Density of the air 𝜌air kg m−3 1.00 Turbulent kinetic energy k and turbulent dissipation rate
Aerodynamic viscosity 𝛾a Pa-s 1.855 × 10−5 𝜀 are defined as [25]:
Run length Lr m 0.40
�
ui uj
�
( )
k= =
1 �2
u + v�2 + w�2 , (3)
2 2

( � )( �
)
u 𝜕uj 𝜕ui
𝜀= . (4)
𝜌 𝜕xk 𝜕xk

In the standard k − 𝜀 model, the corresponding transport

equation is:
⎧ 𝜕 (𝜌ku )
�� � �
𝜕(𝜌k) 𝜇
⎪ + 𝜕x i = 𝜕x𝜕 𝜇 + 𝜎 i 𝜕x 𝜕k
+ Gk + Gb − 𝜌𝜀 − YM + Sk
⎨
𝜕t
𝜕 (𝜌𝜀ui )
i �� j � k� j
� � 2 ,
𝜕(𝜌𝜀) 𝜇i
⎪ + 𝜕x = 𝜕x 𝜇 + 𝜎 𝜕x + G1𝜀 𝜀k Gk + G3𝜀 Gb − G2𝜀 𝜌 𝜀k
𝜕 𝜕𝜀
+ S𝜀
Fig. 4  Earth-fixed coordinate and body-fixed coordinates ⎩ 𝜕t i j 𝜀 j

(5)
body-fixed coordinate is easy to observe the immersion and where Gk is the generation of turbulent kinetic energy
impact force on the surface of the moving AUH. The Z axis k caused by the average speed gradient; Gb is the genera-
(heave) of the body-fixed coordinate is positive upward to tion of turbulent kinetic energy k caused by buoyancy; YM
observe impact force intuitively. denotes the contribution of pulsatile expansion in com-
pressible turbulence; G1ε, G2ε, and G3ε are the empirical
constants; σk and σε are the Prandtl numbers correspond-
2.2 Governing equations and turbulence model ing to the turbulent kinetic energy k and dissipation rate ε
respectively; Sk and Sε are the user-defined source items.
The numerical method is mainly to solve the Reynolds-
averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS) as follows [23]:
𝜕(ui ) 2.3 Volume of Fluid (VOF) method
= 0, (1)
𝜕xi
The VOF method was used to tackle the problem of free-
( ) surface. In each calculation unit, the sum of the volume
( )
𝜕 𝜌ui 𝜕ui 𝜕P 𝜕 𝜕ui fractions of all phases is 1.0. Both the liquid phase (water)
(2)
� �
+ 𝜌uj = 𝜌Fi − + 𝜇 − 𝜌ui uj ,
𝜕t 𝜕xj 𝜕xi 𝜕xj 𝜕xj and the gas phase (air) are treated clearly by putting for-
ward liquid volume fraction α1 and gas volume fraction
where ui is the component of the average speed, ui is the 1–α1. The combined volume fraction of both phases sat-
′

turbulent pulsation velocity component relative to the hourly
average flow velocity, F i is the component of the mass force,
P is the pressure, µ is the dynamic viscosity coefficient of a
fluid, and 𝜌ui uj is the Reynolds average stress.
′ ′
isfy the conservation equation. A conservation equation
is solved to transport the volume fraction of one of the
phases. The viscosity μ and density ρ at any point are
obtained by volume phase averaging [26]:

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Journal of Marine Science and Technology

{
𝜌=𝛼1 𝜌water + (1 − 𝛼1 )𝜌air and the initial launching height of the AUH is 0.5 m above
. (6) the free surface; the liquid depth is 6.0 m, as shown in Fig. 5.
𝜇=𝛼1 𝜇water + (1 − 𝛼1 )𝜇air
3.2 Meshing of overset and computational domain
A single momentum equation is solved for the total
domain resulting in a shared velocity field for both phases.
The meshes can be divided into two categories: structured
VOF defines a step function α which equals to unity at any
meshes and unstructured meshes [28]. The setting of the
point occupied by water and zero else where, such that for
grid will directly affect the accuracy of the calculation
volume fraction of α, three conditions are possible:
results, especially the overset-grid convergence valida-
⎧ tion, so the overset-grid independent verification is con-
0 if unit is full of air
⎪ ducted in this paper. Different grid size of overset is set as
𝛼=⎨ 1 if unit is full of water .
⎪ 0 < 𝛼 < 1 if unit contains both water and air 0.008 m, 0.01 m, 0.015 m, 0.02 m, 0.03 m, 0.04 m, 0.06 m,
⎩ and 0.09 m, while the settings of computational area mesh
(7) are constant and favorable. Partial overset mesh is shown
The VOF method in detail used to treat two-phase flows in Fig. 6a–d. Total number of meshes is influenced by the
is given in Hirt and Nichols [27]. Tracking of interface basic grid size of overset, as shown in Table 2.
between air and water is completed by solving a volume The X-force of AUH can be calculated when the overset
fraction continuity equation: grid is various, it is dedicated that X-force is changed as
the base grid size of overset, and slightly fluctuates when
𝜕𝛼 𝜕𝛼 the value is less than 0.03 m, as shown in Fig. 7. It also
𝜕t
+ Uj
𝜕xj
= 0. (8)
shows that the grid scale of overset has an effect on the
numerical simulation results, and the relationship between
X-Force and the total number of grids is shown in Fig. 8.
Therefore, under the premise of considering the accuracy
3 Computational domain and mesh
and efficiency of calculation, the latter numerical simu-
lation mainly adopts the overset-grid setting of 0.03 m,
3.1 Boundary conditions
the total number of meshes is 1.12 × 10 6. The mesh of
computational domain and mesh partition of AUH surface
Computational domain for steady, incompressible, two-
are shown in Fig. 9. In addition, three different scale over-
dimensional flow of water with boundary condition was
set zones (2.0 m × 1.0 m × 1.0 m, 2.4 m × 1.2 m × 1.2 m,
identified. Two-phase flow is adopted in the simulation field,
2.8 m × 1.4 m × 1.4 m) have been set and studied when
water, and air above a free surface. The AUH model is 1.0 m
AUH entrying into water with initial velocity 5 m/s and
in diameter and 0.45 m in height. The coordinate origin was
immersion angle 45º. In the results, the maximum values
set at the center of gravity of the model. The background
of X-Force are basically the same, and the results have
area is a 16.0 m × 5.0 m × 8.0 m rectangular; the overset area
the margin of error around 0.5%. Hence, the overset area
near the AUH with the dimensions of 2.0 m × 1.0 m × 1.0 m.
scale (2.0 m × 1.0 m × 1.0 m) was set in this paper on the
Velocity inlet was specified as 5.5 m upstream of the AUH
basis of ensuring that enough volume encryption area near
bow. Pressure outlet is 9.5 m in the downstream of the AUH
the AUH body and a good proportional mesh transition

Fig. 5  Establishment of the
computational domain

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 Journal of Marine Science and Technology

Fig. 6  Different mesh size of

overset area (0.01 m, 0.03 m,
0.06 m, 0.09 m)

Table 2  Total number of meshes when different grid setting of overset

Base size of overset 0.008 m 0.01 m 0.015 m 0.02 m 0.03 m 0.04 m 0.06 m 0.09 m
Total number of grids 5.02 × 106 3.01 × 106 1.68 × 106 1.31 × 106 1.12 × 106 1.07 × 106 1.04 × 106 1.03 × 106

Fig. 7  The variation of X-Force of AUH versus the overset-grid size

Fig. 8  The variation of X-Force of AUH versus the total number of
grid

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Journal of Marine Science and Technology
Fig. 9  The mesh generation of the two-phase flow and AUH
between the interior volume encryption area and the over-
set zone were carried. In the meantime, the setting of the
overset-grid size also saves the computational time and
improves simulation efficiency.
4 Numerical simulation results
of the water‑entry impact
4.1 Variations of the AUH water‑entry velocity
Unsteady, incompressible, two-phase flow with identified
boundary conditions was modeled in the computational
domain, liquid water, and air with a free surface. The k − 𝜀
turbulence model and the VOF method simulative tech-
nique were used to simulate different situations of the AUH
immersing into water at different initial velocities from air
above water surface 0.5 m in this paper. Figure 10 shows the
two-phase flow simulation of the AUH water entry at initial
velocity 3 m/s with different immersion angles, the process
of AUH into the water with the immersion angle of 30°, 45°,
60°, and 90°, and the AUH initial velocity was set as 3 m/s.
Figure 11a–d shows the speed changes under different
immersion conditions, analyzing that there is an accelera-
tion process in the first very short period of time, because
the AUH is doing free-falling motion. The greater the initial
velocity, the shorter the duration of free falling; the greater
the immersion angle, the shorter the duration of free fall-
ing. Subsequently, the AUH enters the water, the velocity
of AUH is decreasing over time, and the greater the ini-
tial velocity, the greater the speed reduction, especially
the immersion angles at the range of 30°–60°. The larger
immersion angle is, the smaller the vertical velocity changes,
the state of AUH recovers stable quickly. The smaller the
immersion angle, the greater the maximum vertical velocity
that can be achieved by analyzing the data in Fig. 11.
4.2 Force loading of the water entry process
Figure 12a–e shows the surge force changes under different
immersion conditions in the initial time of the AUH free-
falling motion, and the surge force can be neglected. When
the AUH immerses into the water, the surge force reaches the
maximum value, and then slowly decreases to a stable value
eventually. In the same immersion angle, the greater the ini-
tial velocity is, the greater the impact force on the AUH can
be received. In the same initial speed, with the increase of
the immersion angle of the AUH, the impact force on the
AUH are decreasing.
Figure 13a–e shows the variations of the force in heave
(Z-Force) at different immersion angles during the simula-
tion time. The situation is similar to the situation of the surge
force changes during the initial free-falling period, and thus,
the heave force is negligible. After the value reaches to the
peak value, the decreasing value was gradually over time
until steady-state value generated. In the cases of the same
immersion angle, the greater the initial velocity causes the
greater the impact force on the AUH. For different immer-
sion angles with the same velocity of AUH, the greater
immersion angle causes a smaller impact force on the AUH.
Therefore, the greater immersion angle can decrease impact
force on the AUH in surge and heave, and can be conducive
to the floating state of the AUH when the AUH is immersing
into the water.
4.3 Variations of the AUH water‑entry velocity
Figure 14 shows the peak values of the impact loads on the
AUH in surge at different immersion angles. At the same
angle, the initial velocity is proportional to the load in surge.
When the AUH immersion angle is at the range of 30°–60°,
the hull will be subjected to greater impact changing rate
with the increasing of the initial velocity, for instance, the
13

Fig. 10  Two-phase flow simulation of the AUH water entry at initial velocity 3 m/s with different immersion angles, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°
load up to 4120 N when the AUH at immersion angle 30°
with the initial velocity is 8 m/s, it means that a seriously
impact on the AUH which will easily cause the damage of
electronic components.
In addition, the maximum values of the impact loads
on the AUH in heave at different immersion angles and
different initial velocities are shown in Fig. 15. The vari-
ation of Z-Force is roughly similar to the variation of
13
Journal of Marine Science and Technology
X-Force. The hull will be subjected to greater impact
changing rate with the increasing of the initial velocity,
especially at the range of 30°–60°. Whereas, the Z-force
of 75° and 90° are smaller and similar in trend. However,
the mute phenomenon of the acoustic transducer may
occur when the water inlet angle is 90°. Therefore, the
proper immersion angle of the AUH should be 75° under
comprehensive analysis and comparison.
Journal of Marine Science and Technology

3m/s 3m/s
5m/s 9 5m/s
8m/s 8m/s
8

Vertical Velocity (m/s)

7

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Time (s)

a Immersion angle: 30° b Immersion angle: 45°

9 3m/s
9 3m/s
5m/s
5m/s
8m/s
8
8

Vertical Velocity (m/s)

8m/s
Vertical Velocity (m/s)

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Time (s) Time (s)
c Immersion angle: 60° d Immersion angle: 75°

3m/s
9 5m/s
8m/s

8
Vertical Velocity (m/s)

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Time (s)

e Immersion angle: 90°

Fig. 11  Variations of AUH’s vertical velocity at different immersion angles and initial velocities

13
 Journal of Marine Science and Technology

3m/s 3m/s
0 5m/s 0 5m/s
8m/s 8m/s

-1,000 -1,000

X-Force (N)
X-Force (N)

-2,000 -2,000

-3,000 -3,000

-4,000 -4,000

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Time (s) Time (s)
a Immersion angle: 30° b Immersion angle: 45°

3m/s
5m/s
3m/s
0 0 5m/s
8m/s
8m/s

-1,000
X-Force (N)

-500

X-Force (N)
-2,000
1,000

-3,000
-1,500

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Time (s)
Time (s)
c Immersion angle: 60°
d Immersion angle: 75°

500 3m/s
5m/s
8m/s

0
X-Force (N)

-500

-1,000

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Time (s)
e Immersion angle: 90°

Fig. 12  Variations of surge loads at different immersion angles with different initial velocities in the time history

13
Journal of Marine Science and Technology

7,000
3m/s 3m/s
10,000 5m/s
5m/s
6,000 8m/s
8m/s
8,000
Z-Force (N) 5,000

Z-Force (N)
6,000 4,000

4,000 3,000

2,000
2,000
1,000
0
0
-2,000
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Time (s) Time (s)

a Immersion angle: 30° b Immersion angle: 45°

1,800 3m/s
3m/s
3,500 5m/s 5m/s
8m/s 1,500 8m/s
3,000

2,500 1,200

Z-Force (N)
Z-Force (N)

2,000
900
1,500
600
1,000

500 300

0 0
-500
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Time (s) Time (s)

c Immersion angle: 60° d Immersion angle: 75°

2,500 3m/s
5m/s
8m/s
2,000
Z-Force (N)

1,500

1,000

500

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Time (s)

e Immersion angle: 90°

Fig. 13  Variations of heave loads versus initial velocity at different immersion angles in the time history

13
 Journal of Marine Science and Technology

0 30° is still larger than the top pressure due to the shape charac-
45°
60°
teristics for the upper area. High pressure area of the AUH
-500
75° for the bottom surface is approximately the same, but the
-1000 90°
pressure at the same position increases with different initial
-1500 velocities. It is worth noting that the pressure of the acoustic
X- Force (N)

-2000 transducers is subjected to a large pressure, which needs a

-2500
better shape design and reinforcement of the part.
When the AUH enters the water at 75° immersion angle
-3000
with the initial velocity of 5 m/s, the pressure of upper sur-
-3500 face and the lower surface changes with the whole process
-4000 of immersion, as shown in Fig. 18. It can be seen from the
-4500
figures that the surface pressure gradually increases with
3m/s 5m/s 8m/s the free fall process when AUH is in the air, and the pres-
Velocity (m/s) sure on the water-facing side is the largest.
When the AUH just touches the water surface, the pres-
Fig. 14  Variations of loads in surge versus velocity at different sure of the same position reaches the maximum value and
immersion angles then begins to rapidly decrease. During the continuous
immersion process, the pressure of the same position shows
a rising trend.
10000 30° Throughout the analysis of the pressure distribution, it
45°
9000 60°
is worth noting that the part of the acoustic transducers is
8000 75° subjected to a large pressure, which needs a better shape
90°
7000
design and reinforcement of the part.
6000
Z-Force (N)

5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0 with single-arm suspension. The following conclusions
3m/s 5m/s 8m/s
Velocity (m/s)
Fig. 15  Variations of loads in surge versus velocity at different
immersion angles
4.4 Pressure distribution analysis
The pressure distribution diagrams when the AUH enters
the water at different immersion angles with the constant
velocity (the left side of the picture is the first part of the
AUH that enters the water) are shown in Fig. 16a–e. When
the water flow hits the surface, due to the dish shape of the
AUH, the fluid impacts the front of the upper surface and
collects at the rear of the upper surface, so that the pressure
at the top of the body is much less than the pressure in the
surrounding area. At the same time, the distribution of the
high pressure region on the bottom surface of the AUH body
is larger as the water inlet angle decreases.
The pressure distribution diagrams when the AUH enters
water at a constant angle with different velocities are shown
in Fig. 17a–c. It is dedicated that the surrounding pressure
5 Conclusions
The numerical analysis of the AUH deployment with dif-
ferent initial velocities and immersion angles is carried
out in this paper when the AUH is immersing into water
are drawn:
1. The setting of the grid will directly affect the accuracy of
the calculation results, especially the overset-grid con-
vergence validation, so the overset-grid independent ver-
ification is conducted in this paper first. It is dedicated
that X-Force of AUH is changed as the base grid size
of overset, and slightly fluctuates when the value is less
than 0.03 m. It also shows that the grid scale of overset
has an effect on the numerical simulation results.
2. In the beginning of the AUH with single-arm suspension
immerses into the water, the peak load occurs, as the
increasing of the water depth, the impact will decrease
until reach a stable value. The impact load of AUH
decreases with the increase of water entry angle, and
the greater the initial velocity of AUH, the greater the
load.
3. When the AUH immersion angle at the range of 30°–
60°, the hull will be subjected to greater changing rate
of X-Force and Z-Force with the increasing of the initial
velocity, it means a seriously impact on the AUH which
will easily cause the damage of electronic components.

13
Journal of Marine Science and Technology

Fig. 16  Pressure distribution of AUH when AUH enters the water at different immersion angles with the constant velocity

13

Fig. 17  Pressure distribution of AUH when AUH enters the water at constant immersion angles with the different velocities
Besides, the Z-Force of 75° and 90° are smaller and sim-
ilar in trend and considering the mute phenomenon of
the acoustic transducer may occur when the water inlet
angle is 90°. In addition, in the point of view on stability,
the AUH with the pitch 90° will be more easy to cause
instability and capsizing. Hence, the proper immersion
angle of the AUH shall be 75° under comprehensive
analysis and comparison in the trade-off study.
4. The total process of the AUH with single-arm suspen-
sion immerse into the water is accompanied by some
phenomena, such as uplift and splashing of water sur-
13
Journal of Marine Science and Technology
face, etc. The pressure distribution of the body is ana-
lyzed in this paper. The pressure of the acoustic trans-
ducers is subjected to a large pressure, which needs a
better shape design and reinforcement of the part.
In future work, improvements will be made including
the shape optimization design and launched AUH under
different conditions of current and waves. In addition,
more elaborate entry angles of G-AUH will be calculated
and analyzed on the basis of the VOF technology.
Journal of Marine Science and Technology

Fig. 18  Changing of pressure distribution of AUH during the whole process of launching when AUH enters the water at 75° immersion angle
with the initial velocity of 5 m/s

13

Acknowledgements  The authors wish to thank the national key special
research plan of the China Ministry of Education and the National Nat-
ural Science Foundation of China and Zhoushan Science and Technol-
ogy and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Acad-
emy of Sciences for their financial support of this research under the
project Grant numbers: 2017YFC0306100, 51409230, 2018C81041,
and XDA22000000.
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