A Critical Review of Classical Force Estimation Methods for Streamlined Underwater Vehicles Using Experimental and CFD Data

Classical hydrodynamic force estimation methods are widely used by industrial designers of underwater vehicles for whom captive model experiments and CFD based simulations are uneconomical. They are also used in the preliminary design of submarines and when real time submarine simulations are required. These methods poorly estimate the contribution of the hull to the forces, especially at moderate to high incidence angles. This paper critically reviews the classical hull force estimation methods developed by Munk, Allen, Perkins and Jorgensen, and Sarpkaya. It compares the methods with experimentally validated CFD predictions of a streamlined body at incidence angles up to 30 degrees and for Reynolds numbers from 2.3 to 230 million. The comparison shows that inadequately modeled flow separation and leeside body vortices explain the poor force and moment predictions. This is partly due, at least, to the lack of a streamlined tail on the truncated missile shapes for which the estimation methods were developed.