Numerical Simulation of Propeller Cavitation in Non-Uniform Flow

Taking a certain oil tanker propeller as the research object, and using Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model based on Rayleigh-Plesset equation and the realizable k-ε two-layer turbulence model, the cavitation pattern around the propeller in non-uniform flow conditions is simulated by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software STAR-CCM+. Through effective and reasonable mesh densification of the propeller blade tip area, the tip vortex cavitation is successfully captured with a small number of meshes. The comparison between numerical calculation and test results shows that the whole process of cavitation inception, development, and collapse in wake flow can be accurately reproduced. The back-sheet cavitation pattern at each phase angle is in good agreement with the test results and the difference of cavitation area between calculation and the experiment is within 5%. Although the numerical method can capture the tip vortex cavitation, it cannot accurately predict the unsteady characteristics and spatial structure of the tip vortex cavitation. Based on the above results, it can be concluded this numerical methodology is suitable for simulating cavitation flows around propeller in non-uniform flow.