Optimization of RANS Solver Simulation Setup for Propeller Open Water Performance Prediction

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Islam ◽  
Fatima Jahra ◽  
Michael Doucet

Mesh and domain optimization strategies for a RANS solver to accurately estimate the open water propulsive characteristics of fixed pitch propellers are proposed based on examining the effect of different mesh and computation domain parameters. The optimized mesh and domain size parameters were selected using Design of Experiments (DoE) methods enabling simulations to be carried out in a limited memory environment, and in a timely manner; without compromising the accuracy of results. A Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes solver is used to predict the propulsive performance of a fixed pitch propeller. The predicted thrust and torque for the propeller were compared to the corresponding measurements. A total of six meshing parameters were selected that could affect the computational results of propeller open water performance. A two-level fractional factorial design was used to screen out parameters that do not significantly contribute to explaining the dependent parameters: namely simulation time, propeller thrust and propeller torque. A total of 32 simulations were carried out only to find out that the selected six meshing parameters were significant in defining the response parameters. Optimum values of each of the input parameters were obtained for the DOE technique and additional simulations were run with those parameters. The simulation results were validated using open water experimental results of the same propeller. It was found that with the optimized meshing arrangement, the propeller opens simulation time was reduced by at least a factor of 6 as compared to the generally popular meshing arrangement. Also, the accuracy of propulsive characteristics was improved by up to 50% as compared to published simulation results. The methodologies presented in this paper can be similarly applied to other simulations such as calm water ship resistance, ship propulsion to systematically derive the optimized meshing arrangement for simulations with minimal simulation time and maximum accuracy. This investigation was carried out using STAR-CCM+, a commercial CFD package; however the findings can be applied to any RANS solver.

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Mohammed Islam ◽  
Fatima Jahra

This research proposes mesh and domain optimization strategies for a popular Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique to estimate the open water propulsive characteristics of fixed pitch propellers accurately and time-efficiently based on examining the effect of various mesh and computation domain parameters. It used a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver to predict the propulsive performance of a fixed pitch propeller with varied meshing, simulation domain and setup parameters. The optimized mesh and domain size parameters were selected using Design of Experiments (DoE) methods enabling simulations in a limited memory and in a timely manner without compromising the accuracy of results. The predicted thrust and torque for the propeller were compared to the corresponding measurements for determining the prediction accuracy. The authors found that the optimized meshing and setup arrangements reduced the propeller opens simulation time by at least a factor of six as compared to the generally popular CFD parameter setup. In addition, the accuracy of propulsive characteristics was improved by up to 50% as compared to published simulation results. The methodologies presented in this paper can be similarly applied to other simulations such as calm water ship resistance, ship propulsion etc. to systematically derive the optimized meshing arrangement for simulations with minimal simulation time and maximum accuracy. This investigation was carried out using a commercial CFD package; however, the findings can be applied to any RANS solver.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Islam ◽  
Ron Ryan ◽  
David Molynuex

This paper presents methodologies and some results of a numerical and experimental program to evaluate the effects of static azimuthing conditions on the propulsive characteristics of a puller podded propulsor in open water. In the experimental effort, the model propulsor was instrumented to measure thrust, torque and rotational speed of the propeller, and three orthogonal forces and moments, and azimuthing angle of the pod. The experimental results included the bare propeller (ahead only) and the combined propeller and pod over a range of advance coefficients at various static azimuthing angles in the range of −180° to 180°. A complementary numerical study is being carried out to predict the hydrodynamic forces of podded propulsor in static azimuthing conditions. A Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes solver is used to predict the propulsive performance of the bare propeller as well as the podded propulsor system. The thrust and torque for the bare propeller were compared to the corresponding measurements. The propeller thrust and torque as well as the loads on the pod in straight-ahead condition and at static azimuthing angles were then compared with the measurements. Preliminary analysis demonstrates that the RANS solver could predict the performance coefficients of the bare propeller as well as the podded propulsor in straight-ahead and static azimuthing angles in puller configurations.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Islam ◽  
Fatima Jahra ◽  
Ron Ryan ◽  
Lee Hedd

State of the art CFD capabilities has enabled the accurate prediction of forces and moments on the propeller as well as on the pod-strut body due to small to moderate azimuthing angles. The capability of CFD to predict the hydrodynamics at extreme azimuthing angles is yet to be demonstrated. The aim of this research is to develop a simulation capability to capture most of the dynamics of podded propulsion systems in regular to extreme operating conditions. The numerical methodologies to evaluate the hydrodynamic characteristics of podded propulsors in puller configurations in extremely oblique inflow and highly loaded condition in open water and the associated results are presented in this paper. A numerical study is carried out to predict the hydrodynamic forces of a podded propulsor unit in various extreme static azimuthing conditions. An unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) solver is used to predict the propulsive performance of the podded propulsor system in puller configuration using both steady and unsteady state solutions. To obtain insight into the reliability and accuracy of the results, grid dependency studies are conducted for a podded propulsor in straight-ahead condition. RANS solver simulation technique is first validated against measurements of a puller podded propulsor in straight ahead condition for multiple loading scenarios. The propeller thrust and torque as well as the forces and moments of the pod unit in the three coordinate directions in straight-ahead condition and at static azimuthing angles in the range of −180° to 180° at advance coefficient of 0.20 are then compared with that of the measurements. Additionally, the velocity and pressure distribution on and around the pod-strut-propeller bodies are presented as derived from the RANS predictions. Analysis demonstrates that the RANS solver can predict the performance coefficients of the podded propulsor in extreme azimuthing and in the highly loaded conditions within the same level of accuracy of the same order of magnitude of the experimental results.


Author(s):  
Xi Chen ◽  
Yushen Huang ◽  
Peng Wei ◽  
Zhiguo Zhang ◽  
Fengfu Jin

Simulations of propeller E1619 of two models with different scales are presented using an in-house numerical code based on the solution of the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations for the purpose of analyzing the scale effect on propellers. Propeller open water performance at given advance coefficient was obtained and compared against experimental data, showing good agreement. In aspect of CFD results, scale effect is not obvious. ITTC’78 Performance Prediction Method is applied to correct both experimental and computational open water performance of model 1. Computational KT of model 2 and corrected KT of model 1 agrees well, but the difference between computational KQ of model 2 and corrected KQ of model 1 is not neglectable. The locations of the tip vortex core of the two models are similar to each other, and so is the pressure and fluid velocity distribution. The absolute value of pressure on the blades of the smaller model is higher than the bigger model. The fluid axial velocity around the smaller model is higher than the bigger model.


2013 ◽  
Vol 694-697 ◽  
pp. 673-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Da Zheng Wang ◽  
Dan Wang ◽  
Lei Mei ◽  
Wei Chao Shi

In this paper, the open water performance of a pod propeller in the viscous flow fields is numerically simulated by the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. Based on the coordinate transformation formula for transforming the local to the global coordinate, mathematical model of a propeller is created. Thrust and torque coefficients corresponding to different advance coefficients of the model are calculated by ANSYS-CFX with three different turbulence models. The pressure distributions on the blade surface are also presented. Comparisons show that experimental results and numerical results agree well, with SST k-ω and RNG k-ε more accurate than the standard k-ε.


Author(s):  
Peng Qian ◽  
Hong Yi ◽  
Yinghui Li

An unconventional SWATH (Small-Waterplane-Area-Twin-Hull) ship is introduced, named S-SWATH, which is a catamaran with twin hulls that are slightly curved in an S-form and arranged at a mean yaw angle but mirror symmetric to their common longitudinal center plane. Based on the “shallow-channel superconductivity” theory, proposed by Chen and Sharma, in this paper a more accurate viscous flow theory, solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (or RANS equations), is used to study the hydrodynamic performance of the S-SWATH ship. The simulation results of calm-water resistance and motions in waves are presented. In comparison with a benchmark conventional SWATH ship, which features a typical torpedo-shaped body, the simulation results prove the effectiveness of the S-shape design. On one hand, the S-SWATH ship inherits the major advantages of SWATH ships, such as the superior ride quality, acceptable acceleration levels for human habitability and therefore comfort and overall superior seakeeping characteristics. On the other hand, the S-SWATH ship has much less low-speed drag than its conventional SWATH counterpart, and comparable total drag at high speeds.


2010 ◽  
Vol 143-144 ◽  
pp. 1143-1147
Author(s):  
Bing Xiao ◽  
Xiao Wang ◽  
Ai Guo Shi ◽  
Ming Wu

In order to obtain the four quadrants hydrodynamic performance of open water propeller by means of CFD, a mathematic model of three dimensional coordinates points was established and programmed using Matlab based on the basic parameters of propeller. A smooth model propeller was made by importing these points into front end software. Then taking AU model for example, numerical simulations of propeller turning ahead while going ahead, turning ahead while going astern, turning astern while going ahead and turning astern while going astern were carried out. At the same time, the thrust and torque coefficients were presented. The simulation results showed good agreement with the results of tank test. The influence of mesh generation and computational domain on open-water performance were also discussed.


Author(s):  
Reza Shamsi ◽  
Hassan Ghassemi

This paper investigates the numerical modeling of turbulent flow and hydrodynamic analysis of podded propeller in open water and azimuthing conditions. The RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes) based solver is used in order to study the variations of hydrodynamic characteristics of podded propeller at various angles. The variations of thrust and torque coefficients as functions of the advance coefficient are obtained at various yaw angles. Turbulent flow around the propeller and pod are presented. At first, the propeller is analyzed in open water condition in absence of pod and strut. Next flow around pod and strut are simulated without effect of propellers. Finally, the whole unit is studied in zero yaw angle and azimuthing condition. These investigations are performed for two podded propulsor configurations: puller and pusher. Total forces on the unit in each direction and propeller torque are computed for a range of advance coefficients from 0.2 to 1. Yaw angle of pod are modified from +15° to −15° by increments of 5°. Computational results are examined against with available experimental data. Characteristic parameters including torque and thrust of propeller, axial force, and side force of unit are presented as functions of advance coefficient and yaw angle. The performance curves of the propeller obtained by numerical method are compared and verified by the experimental results. The results show that the propeller thrust, torque, and podded unit forces and moments in azimuthing condition depend on propeller advance coefficient and yaw angle.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1396
Author(s):  
Fuzheng Li ◽  
Qiaogao Huang ◽  
Guang Pan ◽  
Denghui Qin ◽  
Han Li

In order to improve the hydrodynamic performance of pump-jet propulsion (PJP) when matching stator with the rotor, the RANS method with SST k-ω turbulence model is employed to study the influence of six kinds of stator parameters, which are classified into three groups, i.e., stator solidity, stator angles and rotor–stator spacing (S). Results show that the stator solidity involves the blade number (Ns) and chord length (L), has an obvious acceleration effect at and after stator, and produces a higher thrust and torque with a slight efficiency change. Further comparing Ns and L results, we find greater distinctions between the two cases when stator solidity is greatly adjusted. Three stator angles, i.e., stagger angle (α), lean angle (γ), and sweep angle (β), are studied. The α has the biggest effect on the thrust, torque, and efficiency; meanwhile, it shifts the advance number that corresponds to maximum efficiency. The effect of γ is similar to α, but its influence is far less than α. However, there is little difference between various β cases except for off-design conditions, where the efficiency drops dramatically as β increases. The S has a slight effect on PJP performance. Even though S decreases 34% relative to the original PJP, the rotor thrust and torque increase by less than 1%. In addition, we compare torque balance locations under various parameters, and each component force is analyzed in detail to explain the reason for performance variation. The present work is conducive to future optimization in PJP design.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Houari Hussein ◽  
Kadda Boumediene ◽  
Samir Belhenniche ◽  
Omar Imine ◽  
Mohamed Bouzit

 The objective of the current paper is to study the flow around Seiun Maru Highly Skewed (HSP) marine propeller by assessment of blade forces and moments under non-cavitating case. The calculations are performed in open water (steady case) and non-uniform ship wake (Unsteady case). The governing equations based on Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes Equation (RANSE) are solved using Finite Volume Method. Ansys Fluent 14.0 is used to implement the simulation. For the steady case, Moving Reference Frame (MRF) is selected while sliding mesh technique is adopted for the unsteady case. Calculated open water performances in terms of thrust and torque coefficients fit very well with experimental data for a wide range of advance ratio. In the unsteady calculations, axial velocities, deduced from the nominal wake, are introduced in the Ansys fluent code. To locate suitably the non-uniform wake in the propeller front plane, three positions of inlet wake have been taken into account to determine their effects on the accuracy of the results. Obtained results show that computed performances are improved compared to panel method when the inlet is close to the propeller.  


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document