How Does Supercavitation Work?

Supercavitation. The fundamental idea behind supercavitation is surprisingly simple. When water is forced around an object, such as a ship's propeller, at high speeds the pressure drops around the trailing edge, and if it drops below the water's vapour pressure, bubbles are formed in a process known as cavitation.

Do torpedoes Cavitate?

Supercavitation is the use of a cavitation bubble to reduce skin friction drag on a submerged object and enable high speeds. Applications include torpedoes and propellers, but in theory, the technique could be extended to an entire underwater vessel.

How does a torpedo propel itself?

Torpedoes either use batteries and an electric motor or a special kind of fuel to propel themselves. ... A torpedo cannot do that, so it uses a fuel that either does not need an oxidizer, or it carries the oxidizer inside the torpedo. OTTO fuel (see the links below) has its own oxidizer mixed with the fuel.