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Numerical simulations of propeller cavitation flows based on OpenFOAM

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Abstract

In order to study the cavitation and hydrodynamic characteristics of propeller under uniform and non-uniform flows, numerical investigations are performed using interPhaseChangeDyMFoam in the open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software platform OpenFOAM with Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model. The simulation results can be used as a reference to evaluate the working ability of a propeller in case of actual navigation. A new grid encryption method is adopted in the research to better capture the existence of vortex cavitation at the propeller tip. The method of function input is carried out in the study to simulate the condition of non-uniform flow and reduce the calculation amount. Typical unsteady dynamics are predicted by the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method with a modified shear stress transport (SST) k − ω turbulence model. The numerical results of the propeller such as cavitation shape and pressure distribution under uniform and non-uniform flow are analyzed and compared with each other.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computational Marine Hydrodynamics Lab (CMHL), State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Min-sheng Zhao, Wei-wen Zhao & De-cheng Wan

Authors
  1. Min-sheng Zhao
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  2. Wei-wen Zhao
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  3. De-cheng Wan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to De-cheng Wan.

Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51879159, 51809169 and 51909160), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2019YFB1704200, 2019YFC0312400), the Chang Jiang Scholars Program (Grant No. T2014099) and the Innovative Special Project of Numerical Tank of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (Grant No. 2016-23/09).

Biography: Min-sheng Zhao (1994-), Male, Ph. D. Candidate

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Zhao, Ms., Zhao, Ww. & Wan, Dc. Numerical simulations of propeller cavitation flows based on OpenFOAM. J Hydrodyn 32, 1071–1079 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42241-020-0071-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42241-020-0071-8

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