Drag reduction polymer ejection system for underwater vehicle

摘要

A boundary layer polymer reservoir has bladder type side walls and is supted in a chamber in a vehicle that can be filled with sea water under pressure to provide external forces on the reservoir to eject the polymer through ports in the nose of the vehicle. The vehicle is a buoyant test vehicle that is drawn downwardly to a depth that produces a predetermined pressure in the chamber. The reservoir is elliptical with a support ring to which the elliptical side walls are peripherally attached, and which is itself attached to rails inside the vehicle.