CFD estimation of HDCs for varying bodies of revolution of underwater gliders

Autonomous Underwater Gliders (AUGs) are a type of Underwater Vehicles that move without the help of a standard propeller. Gliders use buoyancy engines to vary their weight or buoyancy and traverse with the help of the Lift and Drag forces developed from the fuselage and the wings. The Lift and Drag Coefficients, also called Hydrodynamic coefficients (HDCs) play a major role in glider dynamics. This paper examines the effect of the different types of glider fuselages based on the bodies of revolution (BOR) of NACA sections. The HDCs of the glider fuselages are numerically estimated at a low-speed regime (105 Reynolds Number) using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The methodology is validated using published literature, and the results of CFD are discussed for possible application in the estimation of glider turning motion.