An experimental insight into the effect of confinement on tip vortex cavitation of an elliptical hydrofoil

1999 ◽  
Vol 390 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
OLIVIER BOULON ◽  
MATHIEU CALLENAERE ◽  
JEAN-PIERRE FRANC ◽  
JEAN-MARIE MICHEL

The present paper is devoted to an analysis of tip vortex cavitation under confined situations. The tip vortex is generated by a three-dimensional foil of elliptical planform, and the confinement is achieved by flat plates set perpendicular to the span, at an adjustable distance from the tip. In the range of variation of the boundary-layer thickness investigated, no significant interaction was observed between the tip vortex and the boundary layer which develops on the confinement plate. In particular, the cavitation inception index for tip vortex cavitation does not depend significantly upon the length of the plate upstream of the foil. On the contrary, tip clearance has a strong influence on the non-cavitating structure of the tip vortex and consequently on the inception of cavitation in its core. The tangential velocity profiles measured by a laser-Doppler velocimetry (LDV) technique through the vortex, between the suction and the pressure sides of the foil, are strongly asymmetric near the tip. They become more and more symmetric downstream and the confinement speeds up the symmetrization process. When the tip clearance is reduced to a few millimetres, the two extrema of the velocity profiles increase. This increase results in a decrease of the minimum pressure in the vortex centre and accounts for the smaller resistance to cavitation observed when tip clearance is reduced. For smaller values of tip clearance, a reduction of tip clearance induces on the contrary a significant reduction in the maxima of the tangential velocity together with a significant increase in the size of the vortex core estimated along the confinement plate. Hence, the resistance to cavitation is much higher for such small values of tip clearance and in practice, no tip vortex cavitation is observed for tip clearances below 1.5 mm. The cavitation number for the inception of tip vortex cavitation does not correlate satisfactorily with the lift coefficient, contrary to classical results obtained without any confinement. Owing to the specificity introduced by the confinement, the usual procedure developed in an infinite medium to estimate the vortex strength from LDV measurements is not applicable here. Hence, a new quantity homogeneous to a circulation had to be defined on the basis of the maximum tangential velocity and the core size, which proved to be better correlated to the cavitation inception data.

1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger E. A. Arndt ◽  
Andreas P. Keller

Tip vortex cavitation studies were made with a hydrofoil that was elliptical in planform, with an aspect ratio of 3, and having a modified NACA 662-415 profile. LDV measurements of the tangential velocity component in the vortex were used to determine that the minimum pressure in the vortex varies with lift coefficient squared, i.e., that the incipient cavitation number σi should follow a Cl2 relation (σi ≈ Cl2). This is in contradiction to previous observations (Arndt et al. 1991) that the tip vortex cavitation index varied approximately with lift coefficient to the power 1.4. By carefully monitoring the tensile strength of the water, i.e., its susceptibility to cavitation, the discrepancy was traced to the capability of the test water to sustain a tensile stress. Cavitation in “weak” water (no tensile strength) does follow the Cl2 relationship, whereas observations in “strong” water (rupture considerably below vapor pressure) more closely followed the previously observed variation, i.e., σi ≈ Cl1.4. Since the structure of the vortex cannot be affected by changes in the water quality, the discrepancy can be explained only by the amount of tension that can be sustained by the test water before inception occurs. Apparently a relatively larger value of tension can be sustained in the vortex is the strength of the vortex is increased (i.e., increasing Cl). This would explain the observed deviation from the expected Cl2 law for water with measurable tensile strength.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Young T. Shen ◽  
Scott Gowing ◽  
Stuart Jessup

Tip vortices generated by marine lifting surfaces such as propeller blades, ship rudders, hydrofoil wings, and antiroll fins can lead to cavitation. Prediction of the onset of this cavitation depends on model tests at Reynolds numbers much lower than those for the corresponding full-scale flows. The effect of Reynolds number variations on the scaling of tip vortex cavitation inception is investigated using a theoretical flow similarity approach. The ratio of the circulations in the full-scale and model-scale trailing vortices is obtained by assuming that the spanwise distributions of the section lift coefficients are the same between the model-scale and the full-scale. The vortex pressure distributions and core sizes are derived using the Rankine vortex model and McCormick’s assumption about the dependence of the vortex core size on the boundary layer thickness at the tip region. Using a logarithmic law to describe the velocity profile in the boundary layer over a large range of Reynolds number, the boundary layer thickness becomes dependent on the Reynolds number to a varying power. In deriving the scaling of the cavitation inception index as the ratio of Reynolds numbers to an exponent m, the values of m are not constant and are dependent on the values of the model- and full-scale Reynolds numbers themselves. This contrasts traditional scaling for which m is treated as a fixed value that is independent of Reynolds numbers. At very high Reynolds numbers, the present theory predicts the value of m to approach zero, consistent with the trend of these flows to become inviscid. Comparison of the present theory with available experimental data shows promising results, especially with recent results from high Reynolds number tests. Numerical examples of the values of m are given for different model- to full-scale sizes and Reynolds numbers.


Author(s):  
Young T. Shen ◽  
Stuart Jessup ◽  
Scott Gowing

Tip vortices that are generated by marine lifting surfaces such as propeller blades, ship rudders, hydrofoil wings, and anti-roll fins can lead to cavitation. Prediction of the onset of this cavitation depends on model tests at Reynolds numbers much lower than those for the corresponding full-scale flows. The effect of Reynolds number variations on the scaling of tip vortex cavitation inception is investigated using a theoretical flow similarity approach. The ratio of the circulations in the full-scale and model-scale trailing vortices is obtained by assuming that the spanwise section lift coefficient distributions are the same between model and full-scale. The vortex pressure distributions and core sizes are derived using the Rankine vortex model and McCormick’s assumption about the dependence of the vortex core size on the boundary layer thickness at the tip region. Using a logarithmic law to describe the velocity profile in the boundary layer over a large range of Reynolds number, the boundary layer thickness becomes dependent on the Reynolds number to a varying power. In deriving the cavitation inception scaling in the traditional scaling format of σif / σim = (Ref/Rem)n, the values of n are not constant and depend on the values of Ref and Rem themselves. This contrasts traditional scaling for which n is treated as a fixed value that is independent of Reynolds numbers. At very high Reynolds numbers, the present theory predicts the value of n to approach zero, consistent with the trend of these flows to become inviscid. Comparison of the present theory with available experimental data shows promising results, especially with recent results from high Reynolds number tests. Numerical examples are given of the values of n for different model to full-scale sizes and Reynolds numbers.


1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
T. Pichon ◽  
A. Pauchet ◽  
A. Astolfi ◽  
D. H. Fruman ◽  
J-Y. Billard

It is by now well established that, for Reynolds numbers larger than those corresponding to the conditions of laminar-to-turbulent boundary layer transition over a flat plate (≈0.5 × 106) and for a variety of wing shapes and cross sections, desinent cavitation numbers divided by the Reynolds number to the power 0.4 correlate with the square of the lift coefficient. In the case of foils having an NACA 16020 cross section and for Reynolds numbers below or close to those leading to transition over a flat plate, the results are very much different from those obtained for well-developed turbulent boundary layer conditions. Thus, a research program has been conducted in order to investigate the effect of boundary layer manipulation on cavitation occurrence. It consisted in determining the critical cavitation numbers, the lift coefficients, and the velocities in the tip vortex of foils having either a smooth surface or tripping roughness (promoters) near the leading edge. Tests were performed using elliptical foils of NACA 16020 cross section having the promoters extending over 60, 80 and 90 percent of the semi-span. The region near the tip was kept smooth in order to distinguish laminar-to-turbulent transition effects from tip vortex cavitation inhibition effects associated with artificial roughness at the wing tip. Results obtained at very low Reynolds numbers, ≥ 0.24 × 106, with the foil tripped on both the pressure and suction sides collapse rather well with those previously obtained at much larger Reynolds numbers with the smooth foil, and correlate with the square of the lift coefficient. The differences between the tripped and smooth foil results are due to the modification of the lift characteristics through the modification of the wing boundary layer, as shown by flow visualization studies, and as a result of the local tip vortex intensity.


Author(s):  
Christopher J. Chesnakas ◽  
Stuart D. Jessup

An extensive experimental investigation was carried out to examine tip-vortex induced cavitation on a ducted propulsor. The flowfield about a 3-bladed, ducted rotor operating in uniform inflow was measured in detail with three-dimensional LDV; cavitation inception was measured; and a correlated hydrophone/high-speed video system was used to identify and characterize the early, sub-visual cavitation events. Two geometrically-similar, ducted rotors were tested over a Reynolds number range from 1.4×106 to 9×106 in order to determine how the tip-vortex cavitation scales with Reynolds number. Analysis of the data shows that exponent for scaling tip-vortex cavitation with Reynolds number is smaller than for open rotors. It is shown that the parameters which are commonly accepted to control tip-vortex cavitation, vortex circulation and vortex core size, do not directly control cavitation inception on this ducted rotor. Rather it appears that cavitation is initiated by the stretching and deformation of secondary vortical structures resulting from the merger of the leakage and tip vortices.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 680-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Laborde ◽  
P. Chantrel ◽  
M. Mory

A combined study of tip clearance and tip vortex cavitations in a pump-type rotating machine is presented. Cavitation patterns are observed and cavitation inception is determined for various gap heights, clearance and blade geometries, and rotor operating conditions. An optimum clearance geometry is seen to eliminate clearance cavitation when the clearance edge is rounded on the blade pressure side. The gap height has a strong effect on clearance cavitation inception, but the trends vary considerably when other parameters are also modified. The gap height and clearance geometry have less influence on tip vortex cavitation but forward and backward blade skew is observed to reduce and increase tip vortex cavitation, respectively, as compared to a blade with no skew.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Fruman ◽  
P. Cerrutti ◽  
T. Pichon ◽  
P. Dupont

The effect of the planform of hydrofoils on tip vortex roll-up and cavitation has been investigated by testing three foils having the same NACA 16020 cross section but different shapes. One foil has an elliptical shape while the other two are shaped like quarters of ellipses; one with a straight leading edge and the other with a straight trailing edge. Experiments were conducted in the ENSTA, Ecole Navale and IMHEF cavitation tunnels with homologous foils of different sizes to investigate Reynolds number effects. Hydrodynamic forces as well as cavitation inception and desinence performance were measured as a function of Reynolds number and foil incidence angle. Laser Doppler measurements of the tangential and axial velocity profiles in the region immediately downstream of the tip were also performed. At equal incidence angle and Reynolds number, the three foils show different critical cavitation conditions and the maximum tangential velocity near the tip increases as the hydrofoil tip is moved from a forward to a rear position. However, the velocity profiles become more similar with increasing downstream distance, and at downstream distances greater than one chord aft of the tip, the differences between the foils disappear. The rate of tip vortex roll-up is much faster for the straight leading edge than for the straight trailing edge foil and, in the latter case, a significant portion of the roll-up occurs along the foil curved leading edge. The minimum of the pressure coefficient on the axis of the vortex was estimated from the velocity measurements and correlated with the desinent cavitation number for the largest free stream velocities. The correlation of data is very satisfactory. At the highest Reynolds number tested and at equal lift coefficients, the straight leading edge foil displays the most favorable cavitation desinent numbers.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao-Tsung Hsiao ◽  
Laura L. Pauley

The Rayleigh-Plesset bubble dynamics equation coupled with the bubble motion equation developed by Johnson and Hsieh was applied to study the real flow effects on the prediction of cavitation inception in tip vortex flows. A three-dimensional steady-state tip vortex flow obtained from a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes computation was used as a prescribed flow field through which the bubble was passively convected. A “window of opportunity” through which a candidate bubble must pass in order to be drawn into the tip-vortex core and cavitate was determined for different initial bubble sizes. It was found that bubbles with larger initial size can be entrained into the tip-vortex core from a larger window size and also had a higher cavitation inception number.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 2666-2681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiaki Miyamoto ◽  
Tetsuya Takemi

Triggering processes for the rapidly intensifying phase of a tropical cyclone (TC) were investigated on the basis of numerical experiments using a three-dimensional nonhydrostatic model. The results revealed that the rapid intensification of the simulated TC commenced following the formation of a circular cloud, which occurred about 12 h after the TC became essentially axisymmetric. The circular cloud (eyewall) evolved from a cloudy convective cell that was originally generated near the radius of maximum wind speed (RMW). The development of the convective cell in the eyewall was closely related to the radial location of the strong boundary layer convergence of axisymmetric flow. The radius of maximum convergence (RMC) was small relative to the RMW when the TC vortex was weak, which is consistent with the boundary layer theory for a rotating fluid system on a frictional surface. As the TC intensified, the RMC approached the RMW. An eyewall was very likely to form in the simulated TC when the RMC approached the RMW. Because the RMC is theoretically determined by a Rossby number defined by the maximum tangential velocity, RMW, and Coriolis parameter, a series of numerical experiments was conducted by changing the three parameters. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that intensification occurs earlier for larger Rossby numbers. This finding indicates that initial TC vortices with larger Rossby numbers are more likely to experience rapid intensification and, hence, to evolve into strong hurricanes.


1979 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. De Ruyck ◽  
C. Hirsch ◽  
P. Kool

An axial compressor end-wall boundary layer theory which requires the introduction of three-dimensional velocity profile models is described. The method is based on pitch-averaged boundary layer equations and contains blade force-defect terms for which a new expression in function of transverse momentum thickness is introduced. In presence of tip clearance a component of the defect force proportional to the clearance over blade height ratio is also introduced. In this way two constants enter the model. It is also shown that all three-dimensional velocity profile models present inherent limitations with regard to the range of boundary layer momentum thicknesses they are able to represent. Therefore a new heuristic velocity profile model is introduced, giving higher flexibility. The end-wall boundary layer calculation allows a correction of the efficiency due to end-wall losses as well as calculation of blockage. The two constants entering the model are calibrated and compared with experimental data allowing a good prediction of overall efficiency including clearance effects and aspect ratio. Besides, the method allows a prediction of radial distribution of velocities and flow angles including the end-wall region and examples are shown compared to experimental data.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document