Numerical Investigation of Ventilated Cavities Around a Rudder-Equipped Axisymmetric Body

Xu, Wanyun; Li, Yipeng; Huang, Renfang; Ye, Weixiang; Hao, Liang; Jiang, Wei

doi:10.3390/fluids10090241

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Numerical Investigation of Ventilated Cavities Around a Rudder-Equipped Axisymmetric Body

by

Wanyun Xu

^1,†,

Yipeng Li

^2,3,†,

Renfang Huang

^2,*,

Weixiang Ye

⁴

,

Liang Hao

⁵ and

Wei Jiang

¹

College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

²

Key Laboratory for Mechanics in Fluid Solid Coupling System, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

³

School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

⁴

Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Cooperation Innovation Center of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology, Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety of Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

⁵

Beijing Institute of Astronautical Systems Engineering, Beijing 100076, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Fluids 2025, 10(9), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids10090241

Submission received: 19 August 2025 / Revised: 6 September 2025 / Accepted: 7 September 2025 / Published: 10 September 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Mathematical and Computational Fluid Mechanics)

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Abstract

As an efficient drag reduction technique, ventilated cavity technology demonstrates significant application in underwater launch systems. This study employs numerical simulations to systematically examine the ventilated cavity flow characteristics and cavity–rudder interaction mechanisms for a rudder-equipped axisymmetric body. Numerical simulation predicts the gas leakage behavior, cavity geometry, and internal flow structure. The results indicate that the development of the ventilated cavity proceeds through three distinct stages: rapid growth, slow development, and quasi-periodic shedding. During this process, local high pressure at the leading edge of the rudder suppresses cavity growth, while cavity shedding is associated with re-entrant jet effects. Under the influence of the ventilated cavity, the overall load on the entire body and the local load on the rudder exhibit consistent patterns: F_x > F_y > F_z ≈ 0 and T_z > T_x ≈ T_y ≈ 0, with F_y and T_z fluctuating the most violently. The shedding cavity clusters are primarily concentrated at the rudder root during the quasi-periodic shedding stage.

Keywords: ventilated cavity; axisymmetric body; rudder; DES

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MDPI and ACS Style

Xu, W.; Li, Y.; Huang, R.; Ye, W.; Hao, L.; Jiang, W. Numerical Investigation of Ventilated Cavities Around a Rudder-Equipped Axisymmetric Body. Fluids 2025, 10, 241. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids10090241

AMA Style

Xu W, Li Y, Huang R, Ye W, Hao L, Jiang W. Numerical Investigation of Ventilated Cavities Around a Rudder-Equipped Axisymmetric Body. Fluids. 2025; 10(9):241. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids10090241

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xu, Wanyun, Yipeng Li, Renfang Huang, Weixiang Ye, Liang Hao, and Wei Jiang. 2025. "Numerical Investigation of Ventilated Cavities Around a Rudder-Equipped Axisymmetric Body" Fluids 10, no. 9: 241. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids10090241

APA Style

Xu, W., Li, Y., Huang, R., Ye, W., Hao, L., & Jiang, W. (2025). Numerical Investigation of Ventilated Cavities Around a Rudder-Equipped Axisymmetric Body. Fluids, 10(9), 241. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids10090241

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Numerical Investigation of Ventilated Cavities Around a Rudder-Equipped Axisymmetric Body

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