Nonlinear Dynamics and Bifurcations of a Supercavitating Vehicle

• Published in: IEEE journal of oceanic engineering Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 753 - 761
• Main Authors: Guojian Lin, Balachandran, B., Abed, E.H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.10.2007; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Bifurcation; Bifurcation control; Bifurcations; Chaos; Chaos theory; Control systems; Differential equations; Dynamic tests; Dynamical systems; Force control; Grazing; Hopf bifurcation; Marine; Motion control; Nonlinear dynamical systems; Nonlinear dynamics; nonsmooth systems; Planing; supercavitating vehicles; tailslap; Underwater vehicles; Vehicle dynamics; Vehicles
• ISSN: 0364-9059; 1558-1691
• DOI: 10.1109/JOE.2007.908960

In this effort, a numerical study of the bifurcation behavior of a supercavitating vehicle is conducted. The vehicle model is nonsmooth; this is a result of the planing force acting on the vehicle. With a focus on dive-plane dynamics, bifurcations with respect to a quasi-static variation of the cavitation number are studied. The system is found to exhibit rich and complex nonlinear dynamics including nonsmooth bifurcations such as the grazing bifurcation; smooth bifurcations such as Hopf bifurcations, cyclic fold bifurcations, and period-doubling bifurcations; and aperiodic behaviors such as transient chaotic motions and chaotic crises. The tailslap phenomenon of the supercavitating vehicle is identified as the consequence of a Hopf bifurcation followed by a grazing event. It is shown that the occurrences of these bifurcations can be delayed or triggered earlier by using dynamic linear feedback control laws employing washout filters.