Numerical study on the water entry of curved wedges

The water entry problem of wedges has attracted a great deal of research, as the V-shaped cross-section is a typical section form of the bottom of high-speed crafts. While most investigations focus on flat wedges, the effect of geometric curvature on the water entry of rigid sections is yet to fully be analysed. In this paper, the water entry of curved wedges is numerically investigated using the explicit finite element method. A convergence study is conducted for two typical curved wedges. The numerical method is validated by comparing the impact velocity and the penetration depth with the experimental data. Moreover, the water entry of different curved wedges is simulated with different impact velocities and motion states. And the influences of the curvature and the impact velocity on the impact force, the slamming pressure distribution and the wetted width are investigated and discussed.