An alternative Vorticity based Adaptive Mesh Refinement (V-AMR) technique for tip vortex cavitation modelling of propellers using CFD methods

This study focuses on the investigation of cavitating flow around the benchmark INSEAN E779A model propeller with the main aim of further improving the computational efficiency of the tip vortex cavitation (TVC) modelling by using a commercial CFD solver. Also, the effects of various key computational parameters including, numerical modelling, grid size, timestep, water quality and boundary layer resolution, on the TVC formation and its extension in the propeller slipstream are investigated systematically. The numerical simulations are conducted in uniform and open water conditions using RANS, DES and LES solvers implemented in the commercial CFD code, Start CCM+. In order to achieve the aim of the study, an alternative and new Vorticity-based Adaptive Mesh Refinement (V-AMR) technique is introduced for enhanced modelling of the TVC on the blades and downstream. For the CFD modelling of cavitation, the Schneer Sauer cavitation model based on the Reduced Rayleigh Plesset equation is used for the sheet, tip and hub vortex cavitation. The hydrodynamic results and cavity patterns are validated with the experimental data. The results show that the application of the V-AMR technique further improves the representation of the TVC with minimal increase in computational cost. However, the eddy viscosity at the propeller blade tips increases with applying the V-AMR technique using the RANS solver due to its inherent modelling errors for the solution of the flow inside the tip vortex. This consequently results in an insufficient extension of TVC in the propeller slipstream compared to the predictions by the DES and LES based numerical solvers. Also, the evolution of the TVC is found to be sensitive to the boundary layer resolution when the standard RANS solver is used. The study will help to widen further applications of the CFD methods involving TVC, particularly for propeller induced underwater noise prediction and analysis.

[2]  Gian Marco Bianchi,et al.  Assessment of the Cavitation Models Implemented in OpenFOAM® Under DI-like Conditions , 2016, Energy Procedia.

[3]  R. Bensow,et al.  Large Eddy Simulations of cavitating tip vortex flows , 2020 .

[4]  Jan Carmeliet,et al.  Computational fluid dynamics analysis of drag and convective heat transfer of individual body segments for different cyclist positions. , 2011, Journal of biomechanics.

[5]  J. Bosschers.  Propeller tip-vortex cavitation and its broadband noise , 2018 .

[6]  P. Queutey,et al.  Influence of the Turbulence Closures for the Wake Prediction of a Marine Propeller , 2015 .

[7]  Tim Craft,et al.  Progress in the generalization of wall-function treatments , 2002 .

[8]  U. Ghia,et al.  Procedure for Estimation and Reporting of Uncertainty Due to Discretization in CFD Applications , 2007 .

[9]  Onur Usta,et al.  A study for cavitating flow analysis using DES model , 2018, Ocean Engineering.

[10]  R. Bensow,et al.  Implicit LES Predictions of the Cavitating Flow on a Propeller , 2010 .

[11]  G. Kuiper,et al.  Cavitation inception on ship propeller models , 1981 .

[12]  A. Asnaghi.  Computational Modelling for Cavitation and Tip Vortex Flows , 2018 .

[13]  Masatsugu Maeda,et al.  On the mechanism of the bursting phenomena of propeller tip vortex cavitation , 2002 .

[14]  C. W. Hirt,et al.  Volume of fluid (VOF) method for the dynamics of free boundaries , 1981 .

[15]  P. Moin,et al.  Eddies, streams, and convergence zones in turbulent flows , 1988 .

[16]  P. Roache.  Verification of Codes and Calculations , 1998 .

[17]  Hanseong Lee,et al.  Application of a Boundary Element Method in the Prediction of Unsteady Blade Sheet and Developed Tip Vortex Cavitation on Marine Propellers , 2004 .

[18]  S. Kinnas,et al.  A boundary element method for the analysis of the flow around 3-D cavitating hydrofoils , 1993 .

[19]  Giorgio Tani,et al.  A study on the numerical prediction of propellers cavitating tip vortex , 2014 .

[20]  Simulations of tip vortex cavitation flows with nonlinear k-ε model , 2015 .

[21]  Zhuang Fengqing,et al.  Patients’ Responsibilities in Medical Ethics , 2016 .

[22]  Michel Visonneau,et al.  Sliding Grids and Adaptive Grid Refinement for RANS Simulation of Ship-Propeller Interaction , 2012 .

[23]  Mehmet Atlar,et al.  An experimental investigation of the effect of foul release coating application on performance, noise and cavitation characteristics of marine propellers , 2012 .

[24]  R. Verzicco,et al.  Modeling of vortex dynamics in the wake of a marine propeller , 2013 .

[25]  R. Camussi,et al.  Mechanisms of evolution of the propeller wake in the transition and far fields , 2011, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[26]  P. Spalart,et al.  A New Version of Detached-eddy Simulation, Resistant to Ambiguous Grid Densities , 2006 .

[27]  J. Sauer,et al.  Physical and numerical modeling of unsteady cavitation dynamics , 2001 .

[28]  M. Atlar,et al.  An improved Mesh Adaption and Refinement approach to Cavitation Simulation (MARCS) of propellers , 2019, Ocean Engineering.

[29]  Wencai Zhu,et al.  A Numerical Investigation of a Winglet-Propeller using an LES Model , 2019, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.

[30]  E. Goncalvès,et al.  Unsteady simulation of cavitating flows in Venturi , 2010 .