A case study on propeller-hull vortex cavitation elimination based on CFD simulation and model test

Abstract

ABSTRACT Propeller-hull vortex (PHV) cavitation is a special cavitating flow problem, which may cause severe negative effects on marine propeller performances. The present study shows a successful case of PHV cavitation elimination for a 900TEU container vessel. Numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to analyse and validate the PHV cavitation performance of different designs. Results show that the CFD simulation can capture the PHV for severe PHV cavitation cases but failed to directly capture PHV cavitation. The flow pattern obtained by CFD shows a rank on the likelihood of PHV cavitation for different designs, which is in agreement with model test results. The improved design with a small propeller and a wake equalising duct (WED) successfully eliminated the PHV cavitation.