Effects of duct profile parameters on flow characteristics of pump-jet: A numerical analysis on accelerating and decelerating ducts distinguished by cambers and angles of attack

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of duct profile parameters cambers and angles of attack that distinguish accelerating and decelerating ducts on the flow characteristics of pump-jet. A detailed numerical analysis is carried out to compare the properties of pump-jets with different cambers and attack angles, and to explore the mutual interaction between the duct and components of pump-jet. Beforehand, the numerical methodology is validated by comparing the experiment and simulation results of the pump-jet under mooring conditions and propeller VP1304. Five cambers (f = 0.5t, 0.25t, 0, −0.25t, −0.5t) and three attack angles (α = 4°, 0°, −4°) of duct profile are considered carefully to distinguish accelerating and decelerating ducts, focusing on the propulsion performance and flow field information. The results show that the flow velocity at the outlet of the accelerating ducts is significantly higher compared to the inlet velocity, as opposed to the phenomenon produced by decelerating ducts. The variation of camber makes the internal evolution of the flow field more intuitive compared with the change of angles of attack. Further results indicate that the maximum efficiency of pump-jet drops after the modest growth as the cambers decrease, whose location shifts towards the lower advance coefficient J. The alteration of α leads to making the trend more direct and apparent for the decelerating and accelerating ducts. The high f is advantageous for the cavitation resistance of inside components, like rotor blades and stator blades. The impacts of changing α on the distribution of pressure in pump-jets with accelerating and decelerating ducts are more prominent than changing f. Moreover, the effects of both variations of f and α on the circumferential distributions of the velocity components are prominent, while there are still significant differences between these changes. Additionally, the velocity distribution at the inlet of pump-jets with decelerating ducts is higher than that at the outlet, and the velocity distribution of pump-jets with accelerating ducts presents the opposite pattern.