Computational investigation of the self propulsion performance of Darpa Suboff vehicle

In this paper, the resistance and power values which are very important for the hydrodynamic performance of an underwater vehicle have been calculated using both an empirical method and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. The self-propulsion of the vehicle has been investigated using Actuator Disk Theory. In CFD analyses, the flow around the underwater vehicle (DARPA SUBOFF) has been solved using Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANSE) by finite volume method (FVM). During the analyses, the flow has been considered as 3-D, turbulent, incompressible and steady. In the present study, DARPA SUBOFF underwater vehicle has been selected to compare the results with those of experiments in literature. The flow around the DTMB 4119 model propeller has also been analyzed by CFD method and non-dimensional thrust, torque coefficients and open water propeller efficiency have been compared with the experimental ones.