Work

Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis into the Comparison of Resistance Characteristics Between DARPA Suboff and Modified U209 Types of Submarines

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Submarines are required to have good performance, which is influenced by their type of hull, hull conditions, and operational conditions. This study compares the resistance between a Modified-U209 (U209) submarine and the DARPA Suboff. The former is an older hull geometry with both surface and submerged operation considered, whereas the latter represents a modern nuclear-powered submarine designed for submerged operations only. The two geometries were scaled to give the same usable volume, and all results were non-dimensionalized using this to ensure consistency. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method was utilized to predict resistance by employing the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations. The results show that the total resistance coefficient for the U209 bare hull is approximately 6% higher than the Suboff bare hull. When a casing was added to the U209 geometry the increase in total resistance coefficient was approximately 8%. The addition of the sail resulted in an increase in total resistance coefficient ranging from approximately 4% (Suboff sail added to U209) to approximately 14% (U209 sail added to U209). An existing empirical prediction technique was used to predict the resistance, with the total resistance coefficient predicted being consistently about 5% lower than the values obtained using CFD.

Source: Sci

DOI: 10.3390/sci7020082

Authors: Ahmad Nasirudin, Sutiyo, Ardi Nugroho Yulianto, Eko Julianto, I Ketut Aria Pria Utama, Martin Renilson