Simulation study on the navigation resistance and shape optimization of a new type of amphibious vehicle

Abstract

Amphibious vehicles are important equipment used by emergency rescue teams to quickly pass through water networks. A numerical model of amphibious vehicle underwater navigation in the lower shell was established in this study using computational fluid dynamics, the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes model, and the volume-of-fluid method to investigate the navigation performance of a new all-terrain all-water amphibious emergency rescue vehicle. The navigation resistance was calculated at different speeds. The characteristics of the flow field around the vehicle body were analyzed, and optimization measures for drag reduction by installing a stern flap were proposed. The simulation results show that the existing vehicle body has a relatively high navigation resistance, and the flow field of the amphibious vehicle body is significantly improved after using stern flaps with larger angles and sizes. When the stern flap angle was 38°, the drag-reduction effect was 23%, which effectively improved the navigation performance of the amphibious vehicle.