CFD Analysis of a Propeller Flow and Cavitation

Abstract

The propeller is the predominant propulsion device used in ships. The performance of propeller is conventionally represented in terms of non-dimensional coefficients, i.e., thrust coefficient (K T ), torque coefficient (K Q ) and efficiency and their variation with advance coefficients (J). It is difficult to determine the characteristics of a full-size propeller in open water by varying the speed of the advance and the revolution rate over a range and measuring the thrust and torque of the propeller. Therefore, recourse is made to experiments with models of the propeller and the ship in which the thrust and torque of the model propeller can be conveniently measured over a range of speed of advance and revolution rate.Experiments are very expensive and time consuming, so the present paper deals with a complete computational solution for the flow using Fluent 6.3 software. When the operating pressure was lowered below the vapor pressure of surrounding liquid it simulates cavitating condition. In the present work, Fluent 6.3 software is also used to solve advanced phenomena like cavitation of propeller. The simulation results of cavitation and open water characteristics of propeller are compared with experimental predictions, as obtained from literature [1].

Numerical analysis of propellers for electric boats using computational fluid dynamics modelling

“…8 that propeller 3 experienced the lowest efficiency. This is in correlation with Chang Sup Lee's prediction that increasing the expanded area ratio will cause the efficiency to decrease [14]. It can be seen from the Tables 10-12 that Propeller 3 consistently has the greatest K T for all values of J.…”

“…A rotating region encapsulates the propeller and a static region covers the rest of the simulation domain. The dimensions of the two domains are comparable to Kutty and Rajendran [15], Subhas et al [14] and Tran Ngoc Tu [13] and provide a good foundation from which the current model is constructed. Tran Ngoc Tu compared different approaches to calculating propeller open water characteristics using the Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations method.…”

“…The solver settings used in the k − ε model are displayed in Table 9. The first order upwind settings were used following Subhas et al recommendation on CFD analysis of a Propeller Flow and Cavitation [14]. However, in future studies, the 2nd order upwind setting will be used to get more accurate results at the cost of greater computational time.…”

“…Triet et al investigated the Wageningen B-Series propeller in open water conditions using the k-epsilon turbulence model [12]. This research, with others such as Tran Ngoc Tu [13] and Subhas et al [14], utilised the Multi-Reference Frame (MRF) method to model the rotational motion of the propeller and received satisfactory results. The method consists of separating the model into two regions.…”

Aerodynamic Performance Characterization and Static Structural Analysis of Slotted Propeller: Part A Effect of Position

“…Subhas et al [16] performed a numerical study to study the performance of ship propeller by using CFD method, utilizing multiple reference frame (MRF) method. The results obtained were compared with experimental analysis, with maximum and minimum difference of 0.0013 and 0.001 respectively.…”