Water Tunnel Experiments Research Articles

Experimental study of jet and cavity coupling under vertical motion of underwater vehicle

After the underwater vehicle detaches from the launch tube and starts its engine, the interaction between the tail cavity and the high-speed jet significantly impacts its motion stability and engine efficiency. Therefore, it is crucial to study the evolution mechanism of cavities in vertical motion. However, in traditional water tunnel experiments, the evolution of the cavity differs from the actual situation of vertical launch due to the influence of buoyancy. This study investigates the dynamics and motion trajectories of tail cavities and high-speed gas jets in the vertical movement of vehicles under different Froude numbers and nozzle stagnation pressure ratios through experimentation. The experimental results show two modes of tail cavity evolution: intact cavity (IC) and foam-conical cavity (FC-CC). Increasing the Froude numbers and stagnation pressure ratios facilitates the transition of the cavity from the IC mode to the FC-CC mode, effectively suppressing the formation and intensity of re-entrant jets, thereby reducing its impact on the bottom of the vehicle and enhancing motion stability. By deriving the formula for the length of the jet core area, it was found that the jet length is linearly related to the nozzle stagnation pressure, further revealing the mechanism of cavity evolution. These findings offer a new perspective for a deeper understanding and prediction of the dynamic behavior of underwater vehicles.

Data-driven modelling of the regular and chaotic dynamics of an inverted flag from experiments

We use video footage of a water-tunnel experiment to construct a 2-D reduced-order model of the flapping dynamics of an inverted flag in uniform flow. The model is obtained as the reduced dynamics on a 2-D attracting spectral submanifold (SSM) that emanates from the two slowest modes of the unstable fixed point of the flag. Beyond an unstable fixed point and a limit cycle expected from observations, our SSM-reduced model also confirms the existence of two unstable fixed points for the flag, which were found by previous studies. Importantly, the model correctly reconstructs the dynamics from a small number of general trajectories and no further information on the system. In the chaotic flapping regime, we construct a 4-D SSM-reduced model that captures the system's chaotic attractor.

Experimental study on the coupled flow field and thrust characteristics of tail cavity and jet

During the launch process of underwater vehicles, a tail cavity is formed at the bottom, which plays a crucial role in the engine ignition stage. The flow state within this tail cavity significantly impacts the engine's operational efficiency. Moreover, the evolution of the tail cavity and jet coupling, along with hydrodynamic characteristics, influences the motion attitude of the vehicle. This article delves into the effects of initial tail cavity length, Froude number, and pressure ratio on cavity morphology and hydrodynamic characteristics, utilizing water tunnel experiments to explore these dynamics at the vehicle's bottom. The experimental findings suggest that while the length of the initial tail cavity influences the jet's coupling mode, it does not significantly affect the cavity's ultimate morphological evolution. A larger initial cavity scale correlates with a lower initial pressure peak following nozzle activation; similarly, an increase in the Froude number leads to a decrease in the initial pressure peak. When the cavity morphology remains intact, the pressure pulsation amplitude and frequency are relatively low. In contrast, partially broken cavities and pulsating foam cavities differ in morphological structure and peak internal pressure oscillations, though their pressure pulsation frequencies are similar. During the initial phase of nozzle activation, the thrust produced by the nozzle plays a more significant role than the bottom thrust. Notably, in the initial phase of nozzle activation, the nozzle-generated thrust is more influential than the bottom thrust. The thrust pulsations from pulsating foam cavities are especially strong, with peak values surpassing the initial peak thrust. These insights offer a new insight on the dynamic behavior of underwater vehicles, crucial for refining engine startup strategies.

On the investigation of the aerodynamics performance and associated flow physics of the optimized tubercle airfoil

In the present study, the evolutionary multi-objective optimization is employed to design the optimum amplitude and wavelength of sinusoidal leading-edge tubercles for the NACA0012 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) airfoil to improve its aerodynamic performance at Reynolds number of 5.0 × 104 than that of the NACA0012 smooth leading-edge or baseline airfoil. Here, the optimum tubercle is found to have an amplitude of 11.71% and a wavelength of 25% of the baseline airfoil chord, respectively. Through a combination of in-house water tunnel experiments and numerical simulations, it is additionally established that the optimized tubercle airfoil exhibits superior lift and reduced drag characteristics compared to the baseline airfoil, particularly in the post-stall high angle of attack regime. Furthermore, it is noticed that the optimized tubercle design enhances the gap between large separation regions or stall cells along the tubercle airfoil span during the post-stall regime. Consequently, a more pronounced attached flow regime is developed between the consecutive stall cells, contributing to the tubercle airfoil's improved aerodynamic characteristics compared to the baseline airfoil. Our investigations also revealed that the formation and arrangement of the stall cells on the tubercle airfoil span are associated with a biased wake mechanism similar to the one observed in the wake of side-by-side arranged circular cylinders.

On the study of the pitch angular offset effects at various flapping frequencies for a two-dimensional asymmetric flapping airfoil in forward flight

This article explores the aerodynamic performance of a two-dimensional elliptical airfoil undergoing sinusoidal heaving and asymmetric pitching motions in forward-flight conditions for the Strouhal number (St) range of 0.1–0.6. The study employs numerical simulations and water tunnel experiments to investigate the effects of non-zero pitch angular offset angles (θoffset) while maintaining a fixed Reynolds number of 5000 and an effective angle of attack amplitude of 15° at the pivot location. The θoffset is varied from −15° to +15° at 5° intervals. The present research shows that these parameters significantly impact the leading-edge effective angle of attack, flow velocity, and the formation of high-pressure regions, which are crucial factors in thrust and lift generation throughout the flapping cycle. Moreover, the pitch angle determines whether the resultant force favors thrust or lift. It is observed that the cyclic time-averaged lift consistently increases with θoffset, surpassing symmetric cases (θoffset = 0°). Conversely, the cyclic time-averaged thrust is lower for non-zero θoffset values. Increasing St enhances both cyclic time-averaged thrust and lift up to the respective critical Sts, after which their performance declines. Notably, the critical St of cyclic time-averaged lift exceeds that of cyclic time-averaged thrust; interestingly, their values are invariant with θoffset. Moreover, in the conditions where thrust efficiency maximizes, lift efficiency attains a minimum value and vice versa. So, depending upon the application, one needs to suitably select the pitch angular offset and flapping frequency to maximize thrust or lift performance.

Excitation force on a pump-jet propeller: The clocking effect of pre-swirl stator

The impact of the clocking effect of the pre-swirl stator on the excitation force of a pump-jet propeller is investigated in this paper. The clocking effect, a common concept in fluid machinery, is applied and extended to the relative circumferential position between the pre-swirl stator and the submarine hull in this paper. The research is conducted using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and water tunnel experiments. The CFD results demonstrate that the clocking effect exerts a negligible influence on the steady performance of the pump-jet. However, the excitation force of the rotor is greatly influenced by it. This is due to the fact that the stator, when positioned at various clocking positions, generates different wakes that change the amplitude and phase distribution of the rotor strips’ excitation force. Furthermore, the experimental results demonstrate that the influence of the clocking effect on the duct vibration and the noise radiated by the pump-jet should not be ignored, the trend of which is consistent with that of the excitation force obtained by CFD, thereby establishing a clear correlation between the excitation force and the vibration and noise level. This paper is of guiding significance for the low-noise design of submarine pump-jets.

Enhancing control of air bubbles in water flows through laser-based surface wettability patterning

Air bubble injection has been a widely studied method for reducing frictional drag in fluid flows, especially in the marine industry. However, the lack of control over air bubble stability, size, and shape has hindered its widespread adoption. This study investigates the use of laser-based surface wettability modification techniques to address these challenges by enhancing control over air bubble behavior in water flows. We processed metal plates using nanosecond laser and chemical immersion to create wettability patterns consisting of regions of either superhydrophobicity or superhydrophilicity. Water tunnel experiments were conducted to observe the behavior of air bubbles over these different wettability patterns. The results revealed that surface wettability can be used to control the size and spatial distribution of air bubbles, which can enhance the energy cost-benefit of drag reduction methods in the marine industry. Moreover, this research offers new insights into the potential of laser-based surface wettability modification as a solution for improving the control of air bubble behavior in large-scale applications.

Scaling high Rayleigh number natural convection boundary layer statistics: A vertical water tunnel experiment

A high Rayleigh number natural convection boundary layer adjacent to the vertical heated wall was investigated at a large-scale facility. The global Rayleigh number (Rax) measured by the temperature difference between the wall and ambient water and the distance from the bottom of the heated wall reached 1013. Experimental results confirm that the global Nusselt number Nux is scaled by power 1/3 of Rax, which is similar to the well-known asymptote of the previously achieved Rax. The velocity field obtained using particle image velocimetry (PIV) indicated that the buoyancy-dominant outer-layer scaling suggested by Wells and Worster [A geophysical-scale model of vertical natural convection boundary layers, J. Fluid Mech. 609, 111–137 (2008)] was not only applicable to scale the lower-order velocity statistics but was also valid as a reasonable measure of the spatial correlation, probability distribution, and quadrant contribution features in the outer layer. The dynamical behavior of fluid motion captured by PIV supported a robust momentum transfer to positive wall-normal direction, which was sustained by the Q1 and Q3 quadrants. In addition, merging the existing literature and current data suggested that near-wall function can be applied at a moderate Rax; the universality of this wall-function model was confirmed around z×∼0.7 (where z× represents the near-wall scaled wall-normal distance, Kiš and Herwig [The near wall physics and wall functions for turbulent natural convection, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 2625–2635 (2012)]). At a larger buoyancy regime, it was expected to follow a canonical boundary layer flow.

Experimental study of the stability of crescent barchan shape in subaqueous dune evolution in unsteady water flow

A water tunnel experiment adopting the frequency conversion technology is conducted to investigate the evolution of subaqueous barchan dune driven by the periodic water flow. The kinematic and morphological characteristics of the barchan dune evolution are derived through the imaging processing. Results exhibit a good correlation between the dune kinematics and the periodic variation of water flow, which indicates that the unsteadiness is transmitted from the fluid phase to the sand phase with nearly no inertia. The stable crescent barchan shape under unsteady flow is found. Meanwhile, this crescent barchan shape breaks and reconstructs periodically during the variation of unsteady flow, which implies a flexible compromise between the dune system and the propelling force. This study suggests that the stability of crescent barchan shape can be robust under unsteady flow, which brings new understandings of the morphological stability of sand dune evolution.

The influence of the lobed ejector on the horizontal axial tidal turbine and flow characteristic analysis

The power coefficient of the horizontal axis tidal turbine (HATT) is limited to 0.593 by the Betz limitation, however, the turbine's efficiency can be improved by incorporating a diffuser or lobe ejector. In this study. In this paper, water tunnel experiments were conducted to obtain the power and thrust coefficients of the original turbine and the turbine with a lobe ejector at different tip speed ratios (TSR). The accuracy of the numerical simulation was then verified by comparing it with the experimental results. The results reveal that the power coefficient of the turbine with a lobe ejector is up to 623% higher than that of the original turbine; however, it also leads to a negative thrust coefficient higher than the original turbine by 94.64%. To determine the optimal position of the lobe ejector, a numerical simulation of the turbine with a diffuser, which consists of a single inner lobe channel, was conducted under the same conditions. The findings demonstrate that the power coefficient of the diffuser is 123% higher than that of the original turbine, and the negative thrust is higher at 26.64%, significantly less than that of the lobe ejector. This indicates that the effect of the lobe ejector largely depends on the ejector effect of the outflow channel. Subsequently, to investigate the ejection effect of the lobe ejector, various aspects, including the vortex structure of the flow field, pressure coefficient of the blade section, velocity vector field of the rotor's center plane, and wake velocity curve, were analyzed. Moreover, the changes in the position of flow separation points along different sections of the blade from the blade root to the blade tip, the variation of the spiral structure of the blade root vortex, the evolution of the velocity vector field in the low-velocity region of the turbine's wake flow field and the alteration of the velocity curve of the wake flow field were further examined.

Diversity of filter feeding and variations in cross-flow filtration of five ram-feeding fish species

IntroductionFilter-feeding fish separate food particles from the surrounding water by cross-flow filtration in which a suspension flows parallel to a porous filter medium, thereby transporting particles along the surface.MethodsHere, we investigate cross-flow filtration in five ram-feeding fish species from two groups, Scombridae (Scomber scombrus and Rastrelliger kanagurta) and Clupeidae (Clupea harengus, Sardina pilchardus, and Engraulis encrasicolus). Using a combination of morphometrics, micro-CT scanning, video analysis, and water tunnel experiments, we give a detailed description of the gill arch system, calculate filtration parameters, observe particle movement, and identify morphological traits that induce cross-flow filtration.ResultsOur findings suggest that these ram-feeding fish species use a combination of cross-flow and dead-end filtration as the underlying filtration principle. Specifically, the particles are transported along the surface of gill rakers and denticles towards the esophagus where they accumulate before being periodically swallowed. We infer three distinct morphotypes characterized by variations in geometry, mesh size, and surface structures, which indicate variations of the general mechanism.DiscussionThe description presented in this study contributes to the development of models for investigating the influence of morphological variation on fluid flow and particle retention in filter-feeding fish and on their ecology and biomimetic application.

Self-stabilization of barchan dune chasing

Barchan dunes migrate in swarms, with rich but not fully revealed self-stabilization mechanisms. The interaction between dunes is considered as one of the key reasons for these mechanisms. Contact-type interactions, known as collisions, have been widely studied, while non-contact-type interactions have received less attention. In this paper, a water tunnel experiment was performed to study the non-contact dune chasing. With the aid of numerical simulations, a general model was proposed to interpret the convergence of distance between two dunes chasing each other. The model consists of three factors: inter-dune repulsive vortex, embracing vortex downstream, and difference in dune mass. Then, we reported a scaling law, expressed as the relation between the normalized dune spacing and time, to describe the convergence of dune spacing, and develop a governing equation in the form of area summation to explain the violation of convergence by combining the above-mentioned three factors, both of which were verified experimentally. Our findings could help advance the understanding of the self-stabilization characteristics of dune swarms in nature.

Experimental investigation about the incipient velocity of spherical particles on a hemispherical bed surface

The sediment particles play a huge role in shaping the bed load transport. In this research, 240 water-tunnel experiments are carried out to investigate the incipient velocity of the observation particles in two particle arrangements. To accurately predict the incipient velocity of the observation particles, the equation is conceived by the rolling instability mechanism. The incipient velocity equations and experimental data are used to analyze the trend of dispersive pressure and the effect of arrangement position on velocity. We find that it is appropriate to choose the coefficient of drag as 0.261 and the coefficient of lift as 0.198 for the incipient velocity equation of spherical particles on the hemispherical bed surface. Furthermore, the dispersive pressure is closely related to the flow state, particle size, and particle arrangement, which leads to the incipient velocity of the observation particle being at a minimum when the interference particle angle is 45°. Finally, the particle spacing and the projected area changed with the arrangements, directly affecting the incipient velocity of the observed particle. The analysis of four aspects for the coefficients, dispersive pressure, different particle spacing, and projected area will facilitate the prediction of particle incipient velocity, especially on hemispherical beds.

Effect of wing planform on plunging wing aerodynamics

The unsteady aerodynamics of three plunging wings with different planform shapes was investigated in water tunnel experiments by means of force/moment and three-dimensional volumetric velocity measurements at a post-stall angle of attack. In contrast with a rectangular wing, a tapered wing does not exhibit a local minimum of the time-averaged lift coefficient at a reduced frequency of k≈ 1.7. This is due to the oblique shedding of trailing-edge vortices, which prevents the coupling with leading-edge vortices. The wing with a round-tip exhibits the same double maxima that correspond to the subharmonic and the fundamental frequency of vortex shedding in steady freestream. However, combined leading-edge and tip vortex produce larger time-averaged lift force with increasing reduced frequency. The variation of the bending moment is similar to that of the lift force in general. However, the mean bending moment arm shifts outboard with increasing reduced frequency due to the increased three-dimensionality of the vortex filaments and the tip-vortex effect. Maximum lift and bending moment become more similar for all three wings at higher reduced frequencies as the added mass effect becomes more significant.

Evidence and physical mechanism for vortex-induced vibration of a bluff body without an afterbody

Afterbody—the portion of the body downstream of shear layer separation points—was believed to be essential for the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a bluff body. A recent study by Zhao et al. [“Flow-induced vibration of D-section cylinders: An afterbody is not essential for vortex-induced vibration,” J. Fluid Mech. 851, 317–343 (2018)] made an important forward to demonstrate “an afterbody is not required for VIV” through water tunnel experiments of a reversed D-section prism. However, our direct numerical visualization showed that the shear layer separation appears at the curved front surface of the reversed D-section prism, leaving a part of an afterbody, which makes their evidence questionable. The present study aims to provide solid numerical and experimental evidence for the statement “an afterbody is not required for VIV” using an elastically mounted triangular prism with one vertex pointing upstream. By conducting two- and three-dimensional direct numerical simulations and water tunnel experiments, we verified that even without an afterbody, the triangular prism can freely vibrate. Furthermore, the physical mechanisms for the excitation and sustenance of the VIV of a bluff body without afterbody are investigated. By decomposing the lift force into the pressure and viscous parts, we discover that the vibration of a bluff body without an afterbody is excited and sustained by the viscous lift component acting on the forebody, in contrast to the VIV of a circular cylinder with an afterbody in which the viscous component always results in energy dissipation and damps the vibration. Some recent experiments showed that the VIV does not occur for the triangular prism. The reasons are also explained: the absence of VIV is due to either high-Re or large mass ratio (structural damping) but not owing to the lack of an afterbody.

Experimental study on tail cavity structure and pressure characteristics of underwater vehicle with tail jet

The tail of an underwater vehicle with a tail jet often creates an attached tail cavity when moving at high speed. The strong coupling between the tail cavity and high-speed jet affects the kinematics characteristics of underwater vehicles. This paper compares the influence of Froude number (Fr) and ventilation coefficient (CQv) on the tail cavity at area ratio A/Ae = 92.5 and 236.7 by water tunnel experiment. It was found that at a small Fr, the critical ventilation coefficient of the transition from intact (IC) to partially broken (PBC) and PBC to pulsating foam (PFC) at A/Ae = 92.5 is greater than that of A/Ae = 236.7. The cavitation number (σc) at A/Ae = 92.5 is generally smaller than that of A/Ae = 236.7. With increased CQv, PBC's dimensionless time-averaged length (Lc‾/D) decreases sharply and then gradually flattens. The Lc‾/D of A/Ae = 236.7 is larger than that of A/Ae = 92.5. The fluctuation amplitude of the PBC length is smaller than that of the PFC, and the fluctuation frequency (fLc) of the PFC length is about 120 Hz. The change in the tail cavity will affect the pressure characteristics of the vehicle's bottom. With the increase of CQv, the peak frequency of the bottom pressure fluctuation (fpeak) will continue to rise in the PBC until the transition to the PFC, and the fpeak will remain at about 120 Hz. The correlation coefficient is 0.74 between the fLc and the fpeak. In addition, the pressure oscillation intensity at the vehicle's bottom (pbrms) is small in the IC region. When the tail cavity changes from PBC to PFC, pbrms increases gradually at first, then tends to be flat.

Energy harvesting performance of a tandem-hydrofoil based closely-interconnected tidal array

Hydrofoil based tidal arrays have emerged as a promising solution for large-scale power generation due to their high efficiency, cost effectiveness, and minimal interferences to the marine environment. In order to further maximize their power production and economic viability, an efficient tandem-hydrofoil based closely-interconnected tidal array is proposed, where the fore and hindfoils are closely spaced and interconnected to achieve constructive foil-foil interactions for energy capture. The power production, energy efficiency, capacity density, and levelized cost of electricity are obtained using a comprehensive approach that combines water tunnel experiments and computational fluid dynamics modeling. The results demonstrate that the capacity density of the proposed tandem configuration achieves at least 3 times higher than those of existing studies, while the hydrofoil deployment density is 4 times higher. Moreover, the energy efficiency and capacity density can be enhanced by enlarging the forefoil pitching amplitude or shortening the inter-foil spacing. Furthermore, the levelized cost of electricity is minimized to 50% that of existing studies, achieved by enhancing the energy capture and reducing the capital expenditures, thereby maximizing the commercial potential of the proposed hydrofoil based tidal array.

Scaling and lateral maneuverability of pitching foil in periodic freestream

We formulate the thrust and lift coefficients using scaling laws to develop a guideline for the lateral maneuverability of a pitching foil in a periodic freestream. The scaling laws for thrust and lift coefficients of two-dimensional pitching foil in a periodic freestream are derived by considering added mass and circulatory forces. We examined the validity of scaling laws by conducting water tunnel experiments at a Reynolds number of 4.2 × 103. The key parameters are the pitch amplitude and phase difference between the periodic freestream and pitching foil. The pitch amplitude was changed from 4° to 24° with 4° increments, and the phase difference was changed from 0 to 2π with 0.25π increments. It was discovered that our scaling laws were consistent with experimental data for small pitch amplitude. By using scaling laws, we proposed guidelines to control the thrust and lift coefficients for lateral maneuver. Our guideline demonstrates that pitch amplitude can be employed to control the thrust coefficient to cancel out drag, and the phase difference is useful to control the lift coefficient without changing the adjusted thrust coefficient.

Drag reduction performance and mechanism of flexible conical microstructure film inspired by pufferfish epidermis

Flexible bionic drag reduction surfaces have attracted increasing attention in recent years owing to its potential to address the daunting energy crisis. Inspired by the skin of pufferfish, a flexible conical microstructure film with effective drag reduction is designed. The film has the advantages of cost-effective and tensile-bending resistance to meet commercial applications. The low price of raw materials and rapid solidification at room temperature are the core of cost reduction, and the manufactured film can withstand a maximum tensile force of 70 N and a strain of 484%. The practical application effect of the film has been confirmed by model ship tests, and it still has stable drag reduction ability after multiple stretching and bending. The water tunnel experiment results show that the drag-reducing efficiency of the flexible conical microstructure film is 10.65%–12.04% compared to the rigid plane, in which the conical topography suppresses turbulence burst, whereas the flexible surface has the effect of absorbing turbulent energy to buffer the near-wall fluid. The coupling effect enhances drag-reducing efficiency. Therefore, the flexible conical microstructure film in this work provides a practical and commercialized fluid drag reduction approach for ships, underwater vehicles, and pipeline transportation.

A novel wake-excited magnetically coupled underwater piezoelectric energy harvester

This paper proposes a wake-excited magnetically coupled piezoelectric energy harvester (WMPEH) to realize the self-powered function of microelectronic devices in a fluid environment. The WMPEH consists of a fixed column, a vibrating column, magnets, and a piezoelectric composite beam. A series of water tunnel experiments are conducted to prove the usefulness of wake excitation and magnetic coupling, and how it positively or negatively affects the harvester's efficacy. Different fixed and vibrating column diameters and the distance between the two columns affect the performance of the WMPEH. The influence of the wake excitation force generated by the fixed columns with diameters of 5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm on the vibrating column is analyzed respectively in the experiment. The vibrating column diameter is D, and four different distances are considered, namely 2D, 3D, 4D, and 5D. The results show that the maximum output voltage of WMPEH is increased by 1.96 and 1.34 times, respectively, compared with that of magnetically coupled piezoelectric energy harvester (MPEH) and conventional piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH). Furthermore, increasing the fixed column diameter leads to a decrease in the output voltage of WMPEH in the case of the same vibrating column diameter. Increasing the diameter and mass of the vibrating column for a specific fixed column diameter can enhance the harvester's performance. The maximum output voltage density of the WMPEH is 75.56 V/cm3 when the vibrating column diameter, the fixed column diameter and the distance between the two columns are 20 mm, 5 mm, and 2D, respectively. This proposed design can provide the groundwork to promote the performance of the conventional PEH, further enabling the realization of underwater self-powered systems.