Numerical analysis of sheet cavitation on marine propellers, considering the effect of cross flow

Abstract

The research performed in this paper was carried out to investigate the numerical analysis of the sheet cavitation on marine propeller. The method is boundary element method (BEM). Using the Green's theorem, the velocity potential is expressed as an integral equation on the surface of the propeller by hyperboloid-shaped elements. Employing the boundary conditions, the potential is determined via solving the resulting system of equations. For the case study, a DTMB4119 propeller is analyzed with and without cavitating conditions. The pressure distribution and hydrodynamic performance curves of the propellers as well as cavity thickness obtained by numerical method are calculated and compared by the experimental results. Specifically in this article cavitation changes are investigate in both the radial and chord direction. Thus, cross flow variation has been studied in the formation and growth of sheet cavitation. According to the data obtained it can be seen that there is a better agreement and less error between the numerical results gained from the present method and Fluent results than Hong Sun method. This confirms the accurate estimation of the detachment point and the cavity change in radial direction.

Keywords

• Propeller sheet cavitation
• Cavity thickness
• Cross flow
• Boundary element method (BEM)