The free water exit of an initially fully submerged buoyant spheroid in an axisymmetric flow, which is driven by the difference between the vertical fluid force and gravity, is investigated.… Click to show full abstract
The free water exit of an initially fully submerged buoyant spheroid in an axisymmetric flow, which is driven by the difference between the vertical fluid force and gravity, is investigated. The fluid is assumed to be incompressible and inviscid, and the flow to be irrotational. The velocity potential theory is adopted together with fully nonlinear boundary conditions on the free surface. The surface tension is neglected and the pressure is taken as constant on the free surface. The acceleration of the body at each time step is obtained as part of the solution. Its nonlinear mutual dependence on the fluid force is decoupled through the auxiliary function method. The free-surface breakup by body penetration and water detachment from the body are treated through numerical conditions. The slender body theory based on the zero potential assumption on the undisturbed flat free surface is adopted, through which a condition for full water exit of a spheroid is obtained. Comparison is made between the results from the slender body theory and from the fully nonlinear theory through the boundary-element method, and good agreement is found when the spheroid is slender. Extensive case studies are undertaken to investigate the effects of body density, dimensions and the initial submergence.
               
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