Numerical Simulation of Wakes in a Weakly Stratified Fluid

Abstract

This paper describes some preliminary numerical studies using large eddy simulation of full-scale submarine wakes. Submarine wakes are a combination of the wake generated by a smooth slender body and a number of superimposed vortex pairs generated by various control surfaces and other body appendages. For this preliminary study, we attempt to gain some insight into the behavior of full-scale submarine wakes by computing separately the evolution the self-propelled wake of a slender body and the motion of a single vortex pair in both a non-stratified and a stratified environment. An important aspect of the simulations is the use of an iterative procedure to relax the initial turbulence field so that turbulent production and dissipation are in balance.