The method to control the submarine horseshoe vortex by breaking the vortex core

The quality of the inflow across the propeller is closely related with the hydrodynamic performance and the noise characteristics of the propeller. For a submarine, with a horseshoe vortex generated at the junction of the main body and the appendages, the submarine wake is dominated by a kind of highly non-uniform flow field, which has an adverse effect on the performance of the submarine propeller. In order to control the horseshoe vortex and improve the quality of the submarine wake, the flow field around a submarine model is simulated by the detached eddies simulation (DES) method, and the vortex configuration is displayed using the second invariant of the velocity derivative tensor. The state and the transition process of the horseshoe vortex are analyzed, then a modified method to break the vortex core by a vortex baffle is proposed. The flow numerical simulation is carried out to study the effect of this method. Numerical simulations show that, with the breakdown of the vortex core, many unstable vortices are shed and the energy of the horseshoe vortex is dissipated quickly, and the uniformity of the submarine wake is improved. The submarine wake test in a wind tunnel has verified the effect of the method to control the horseshoe vortex. The vortex baffle can improve the wake uniformity in cases of high Reynolds numbers as well, and it does not have adverse effects on the maneuverability and the speed ability of the submarine.