Hydrodynamics of an autonomous underwater vehicle equipped with a vectored thruster

A numerical method for solving the steady flow around an AUV equipped with a vectored thruster is developed. Specifically, the axisymmetrical differential equation for the stream function is solved using a finite-difference technique. The results are used to compute the velocity and pressure field. The boundary layer characteristics are then estimated, and used to determine the location of separation. The computations are then compared to experimental results acquired using a particle image velocimetry system. The accuracy of the computational fluid dynamics is verified within a 1% error