Explicit Approximations for Calculating Potential Flow About a Body

Abstract

Several explicit approximations for calculating nonlifting potential flow about a body in an unbounded fluid are studied. These approximations are shown to be exact in the particular cases of flows due to translations of ellipsoids, and they are compared with the exact potential for two-dimensional flows about ogives in translatory motions. Two approximations, given by formulas (31) and (32) in the conclusion, appear to be of particular interest for practical applications, and they can be extended to free-surface flow problems, for example, ship wave resistance, and radiation and diffraction of regular waves by a body.