Performance of a hydrofoil operating close to a free surface over a range of angles of attack

Abstract

Performance of a NACA 634-021 hydrofoil in motion under and in close proximity of a free surface for a large range of angles of attack is studied. Lift and drag coefficients of the hydrofoil at different submergence depths are investigated both numerically and experimentally, for 0° ≤ AoA≤30° at a Reynolds number of 105. The results of the numerical study are in good agreement with the experimental results. The agreement confirms the new finding that for a submerged hydrofoil operating at high angles of attack close to a free surface, the interaction between the hydrofoil-motion induced waves on the free surface and the hydrofoil results in mitigation of the flow separation characteristics on the suction side of the foil and delay in stall, and improvement in hydrofoil performance. In comparing with a baseline case, results suggest a 55% increase in maximum lift coefficient and 90% average improvement in performance for, based on the lift-to-drag ratio, but it is also observed significant decrease of lift-to-drag ratio at lower angles of attack. Flow details obtained from combined finite volume and volume of fluid numerical methods provide insight into the underlying enhancement mechanism, involving interaction between the hydrofoil and the free surface.

Keywords

• Hydrofoil
• Free surface wave
• High angles of attack
• Performance
• Volume of fluid method