Influence of jet flow on the hydrodynamic and noise performance of propeller

Abstract

The non-uniformity of the propeller wake field will lead to noise deterioration and structural strength problems of the underwater vehicles. Therefore, the study of jet flow technology is of great significance for improving the uniformity of the wake field and reducing vibration and noise. In this study, the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes method and Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings acoustic model are used together to ascertain the influence of jet flow on the hydrodynamic and noise performance of the propeller. The accuracy of the numerical simulation method is verified through the convergence analysis of the calculation results. The hydrodynamic performance of the submarine and propeller with jet flows on different parameters is studied. The results show that the triangular jet can significantly improve the non-uniformity of the circumferential distribution of the wake field at the propeller plane and reduce the dynamic bearing force of the propeller blade. Simultaneously, the spectrum analysis of the numerical simulation results of the propeller noise shows that, compared with the no jet condition, the total sound pressure level at the propeller plane in the low-frequency range can be reduced by more than 3 dB using jet flow in front of the propeller. Hence, the low-frequency discrete spectrum noise of the submarine propeller can be better controlled.