Numerical research on the influence of surface waves on the hydrodynamic performance of an AUV

The influence of surface waves on the hydrodynamic performance of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)could be significant when the AUV sails near the water surface. In this paper, the hydrodynamic performance of an axisymmetric AUV in coupled wave-current flows is numerically studied using a two-phase computational fluid dynamics (CFD)method. The CFD method is validated with existing experimental data. The influences of waves are quantitatively analyzed for different wave heights, Reynolds numbers and submerged depths of the AUV. The flow structures are characterized to better understand the interaction mechanism between the AUV and the waves. It is found that the variation of the lift of the AUV is significantly affected by the wave and that the average drag increases with the increased wave height and decreased submerged depth.