An Experiment for the Study of Free-Flying Supercavitating Projectiles

Applications and research utilizing supercavitation for high-speed underwater flight has motivated study of the phenomenon. In this work, a small scale laboratory experiment for studying supercavitating projectiles has been designed, built, and tested. Similar existing experimental work has been documented in literature but using large, elaborate facilities, or has been presented with ambiguous conclusions from test results. The projectiles were 63.5 mm in length and traveled at speeds on the order of 145 m/s. Measurement techniques are discussed and used to record projectile speed, supercavity dimensions, and target impact location. Experimental observations are compared with a six degrees-of-freedom dynamics simulation based on theoretical models presented in literature for predicting supercavity shape and hydrodynamic forces on the supercavitating projectile during flight. Experimental observations are discussed qualitatively, along with quantitative statistics of the measurements made. Successful operation of the experiment has been demonstrated and verified by agreement with theoretical models.