A Review of External Hydrodynamics With Experimental Data Assessment for Low-Speed Ocean Flows

Abstract

This article describes a literature review focused on published empirical measurements of external flows over bodies of revolution that can be employed for verification and validation of calculations of survey-class autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) or other like bodies. The flow regime for a survey-class AUV is defined, and a mathematically optimal velocity results for these energy-limited vehicles. A range-maximal hotel load is one of the inferences. Cavitation is shown not to affect this type of AUV. Environmental and computational problems of turbulence are discussed. A table of vital statistics of contemporary survey-class AUVs is provided.