supercavitation
Sign in to savethumb|300px|An object (black) encounters a liquid (blue) at high speed. The fluid pressure behind the object is lowered below the vapour pressure of the liquid, forming a bubble of vapour (a cavity) that encompasses the object and reduces drag.
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Physical principle
- Applications
- Alleged incidents
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|300px|An object (black) encounters a liquid (blue) at high speed. The fluid pressure behind the object is lowered below the vapour pressure of the liquid, forming a bubble of vapour (a cavity) that encompasses the object and reduces drag.
In hydrodynamic engineering, supercavitation is the artificial generation of a cavitation bubble to reduce skin friction drag on a submerged object and enable high-speed travel. Applications include torpedoes and propellers, but in theory, the technique could be extended to an entire underwater vessel.