Simultaneous PIV and DIC Measurements in a Towing Tank Environment with a Flexible Hydrofoil

Abstract

Due to their good mechanical properties composite materials are increasingly applied for the construction of lifting surfaces in the maritime industry. However, besides improving the strength to weight ratio of a structure, the anisotropic material properties can also exhibit bend-twist coupling, when exposed to higher loads. In order to experimentally measure the fluid structure interaction, the object of investigation needs to exposed to the same fluid loadings, as it would experience during operation. To investigate the possibility to obtain simultaneous deformation and flow field measurements in a large hydrodynamic testing facility simultaneous PIV and DIC measurements are performed to obtain the deformation of a flexible NACA 0008 hydrofoil and to measure the flow field in the wing tip region. For the assessment of the performance of the methods two scenarios are presented including tests in stationary conditions with constant angles of attack and forced plunging oscillations. The calibration of both measurement systems is done independently and the wing tip, visible in the PIV images, is used for triangulation to find the position of the wing within the PIV coordinate system. The combination of both measurement techniques allows for an accurate determination of tip vortex center positions with respect to the deformed wing and their evolution downstream of the wing. During forced plunging motions, the phase lag of the wing tip and the influence on the wing tip vortex is observed.