Results of Selected Experiments Involving Supercavitating Flows

Abstract : For much of the last decade, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport Rhode Island bas conducted basic research and development involving supercavitating projectiles. Under this program, the theory of high-Mach-number underwater flows has been investigated and first-principles modeling of cavity development and projectile dynamics and stability have all been addressed. To support these analytical efforts a sophisticated experimental program has similarly matured. The NUWC Division Newport Supercavitating High-Speed Bodies (SHSB) Test Range has been designed to safely test underwater gun-launched projectiles traveling in excess of the speed of sound in water. This range was installed as an upgrade to a facility originally designed as a tow tank for testing tactical scale undersea vehicles. Currently the test range is 17 m long and approximately 4 m deep. Armor plates positioned ^ 1.5 m apart ensure flat even unstable projectile trajectories are confined to the range. This lecture describes the experimental facility and the tests performed there through the end of the author's tenure at NUWC circa December 1998. A description of the test range its instrumentation suite and the extensive photographic capabilities developed to capture these high-speed projectiles are discussed. A summary of the experimental milestones through December 1998 is also presented.