Mortensen, Chase (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Truscott, Tadd (College of Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department)
The aim of this project is to analyze water entry based cavity formation of two projectiles and how it affects their motion. The study will be conducted by dropping two horizontally spaced similar-sized hydrophobic spheres from different heights into a quiescent water pool. The results will look at the position, acceleration and forces of the two sphere system and how they differ from a single sphere water entry. In addition, the horizontally spaced spheres show a change in the accompanying cavity formation and evolution when compared to past studies of a single sphere entry. Preliminary data suggests that the closer you drop projectiles to one another in water, the resulting of cavity-seal time, cavity shape, drag experienced by the bodies while in water could differ from single projectiles entering the water.