Chinese scientists are very close to creating
a supersonic submarine capable of traveling from Shanghai to San Francisco in
less than two hours. Researchers found a way to generate a huge air bubble
around the submarine reducing drastically the water friction and therefore
augmenting its speed.
This technique is called supercavitation and was developed originally by Soviet military during the Cold War. They built a supersonic torpedo called Shakval that was able to reach 230 mph (370 kmh)—In theory, a supercavitating vessel could reach the speed of sound underwater, or about 3603 mph (5,800km/h.) Chinese researchers solved some of the problems Russian faced with Shakval but not all of them. South China Morning Post writes: Professor Wang Guoyu, head of the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at Beijing Institute of Technology who is leading another state-funded research project on supercavitation, said the global research community had been troubled for decades by the lack of innovative ideas to address the huge scientific and engineering challenges. "The size of the bubble is difficult to control, and the vessel is almost impossible to steer," he said. While cruising at high speed during supercavitation, a fin could be snapped off if it touched the water because of the liquid's far greater density.
South China Morning Post: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1580226/shanghai-san-francisco-100-minutes-chinese-supersonic-submarine
gif below: Cavitation occurring at the bottom of a glass bottle
This technique is called supercavitation and was developed originally by Soviet military during the Cold War. They built a supersonic torpedo called Shakval that was able to reach 230 mph (370 kmh)—In theory, a supercavitating vessel could reach the speed of sound underwater, or about 3603 mph (5,800km/h.) Chinese researchers solved some of the problems Russian faced with Shakval but not all of them. South China Morning Post writes: Professor Wang Guoyu, head of the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at Beijing Institute of Technology who is leading another state-funded research project on supercavitation, said the global research community had been troubled for decades by the lack of innovative ideas to address the huge scientific and engineering challenges. "The size of the bubble is difficult to control, and the vessel is almost impossible to steer," he said. While cruising at high speed during supercavitation, a fin could be snapped off if it touched the water because of the liquid's far greater density.
South China Morning Post: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1580226/shanghai-san-francisco-100-minutes-chinese-supersonic-submarine
gif below: Cavitation occurring at the bottom of a glass bottle
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