STUDY ON THE MANUEVERABILITY OF AN UNDERWATER GLIDER WITH APPENDAGES

This paper presents the hydrodynamic analysis with the aim of determining the underwater glider with appendage maneuverability performance. The external appendage would affect the behaviour of the underwater glider. Computer Aided Design (CAD) is used to deal with the geometric variation of the underwater glider. Based on the design model, a simulation system using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for the underwater glider is established. The different velocities are simulated to analyse the hydrodynamics of the underwater glider. In order to evaluate the influences of appendage on the maneuverability performance of the underwater glider, simulations of underwater glider with and without appendage are performed and compared. The results demonstrate that the underwater glider with appendage shows higher drag force, high pressure coefficient and high velocity zone where the ability to maintain its gliding path is unsymmetrical, resulting in poor turning performance.