Prediction and analysis of 3D hydrofoil and propeller under potential flow using panel method

Abstract

Potential flow over an airfoil plays an important historical role in the theory of airfoil. The governing equation for potential flow is Laplace’s equation. One of Green’s identities can be used to write a solution to Laplace’s equation as a boundary integral. Using distributions of singularity solutions and determining their strength via the boundary conditions is the essence of panel method. This paper introduces a quick prediction method of three-dimensional hydrofoil and propeller performance based on panel method. The surface of hydrofoil and propeller is divided into numbers of quadrilateral panels. Combined sources with doublets singularities will be distributed on the corners of panels. Calculated blade pressure distributions of hydrofoil and propeller agree well with experimental data. Several sample calculations have been included using panel method.