High-fidelity CFD Modeling of Supercavity-Rocket Interactions

Project Abstract This proposal is offered by the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory (ARL Penn State) to the United States Office of Naval Research (ONR), to develop the physical understanding and modeling relevant to high-speed supercavitating vehicles (HSSVs). Dr. Michael Kinzel will serve as Principal Investigator (PI) and will be the principal technical performer of the proposed effort. A three-year research effort is proposed to develop models and physics understanding for the interaction of a submerged, gaseous propulsion jet in a multiphase co-flow. The physical complexities and range of scales in these systems leads the offerors to pursue: 1) interface capturing/sharpening schemes in the context of a homogeneous multiphase flow model, and, 2) hybrid RANS-LES modeling for resolving the effects of turbulence. The deliverables of the program will be: 1) publications that summarize the numerical and modeling approaches developed, 2) physics understanding heretofore unavailable due to the near intractability of the problem by experimental and computational investigation, and 3) in concert with CFD-based assessments of these interactions in application