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Propeller tip and hub vortex dynamics in the interaction with a rudder

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Abstract

In the present paper, the interaction mechanisms of the vortices shed by a single-screw propeller with a rudder installed in its wake are addressed; in particular, following the works by Felli et al. (Exp Fluids 6(1):1–11, 2006a, Exp Fluids 46(1):147–1641, 2009a, Proceedings of the 8th international symposium on particle image velocimetry: Piv09, Melbourne, 2009b), the attention is focused on the analysis of the evolution, instability, breakdown and recovering mechanisms of the propeller tip and hub vortices during the interaction with the rudder. To investigate these mechanisms in detail, a wide experimental activity consisting in time-resolved visualizations, velocity measurements by particle image velocimetry (PIV) and laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) along horizontal chordwise, vertical chordwise and transversal sections of the wake have been performed in the Cavitation Tunnel of the Italian Navy. Collected data allows to investigate the major flow features that distinguish the flow field around a rudder operating in the wake of a propeller, as, for example, the spiral breakdown of the vortex filaments, the rejoining mechanism of the tip vortices behind the rudder and the mechanisms governing the different spanwise misalignment of the vortex filaments in the pressure and suction sides of the appendage.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Defence in the framework of the research project “PRIAMO”. The authors are also grateful Mr. D. Reali that supported the experimental activity in the framework of his Master Degree thesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR-INSEAN, Italian Ship Model Basin, Via di Vallerano 139, 00128, Rome, Italy

    Mario Felli & Massimo Falchi

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  1. Mario Felli
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  2. Massimo Falchi
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Correspondence to Mario Felli.

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Felli, M., Falchi, M. Propeller tip and hub vortex dynamics in the interaction with a rudder. Exp Fluids 51, 1385–1402 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-011-1162-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-011-1162-7

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