Optimal Design of Supercavitating Underwater Vehicles for Mass Distribution

A finite element model for supercavitating underwater vehicles is developed considering the effects of the connection surfaces of cabins and the non-structural mass distribution on the structural dynamic characteristics. The frequency response of supercavitating underwater vehicles is investigated, and the performance of the configuration with flanged connections is compared to those of the configuration with sleeve connections. The flanged and sleeve configurations are then optimized while minimizing the mass of the shells and the centre-of-gravity coordinate in the axial direction respectively. The computational results indicate that at high frequencies the optimal sleeve configuration is advantageous to minimize the mass of the shells, while the optimal flanged configuration is beneficial to minimize the centroid coordinate in the axial direction, and at the same time determining the appropriate connection configuration depends on the confinement of the constraint conditions at low frequencies.