Numerical investigation of bimodal tip clearance effect on the lift-drag and flow characteristics of a hydrofoil

Tip leakage flow has adverse effect on energy conversion of the hydraulic machinery. The new tip clearance structure based on Bimodal Gaussian function is designed to reduce tip leakage vortex. The effects of bimodal structure with different amplitudes and arrangement positions on lift-drag and flow characteristics are studied. The results show that the maximum rise of the lift-drag ratio reaches 5.88% when the bimodal structure amplitude is equal to the tip clearance size. The bimodal structure reduces the outflow velocity at the peak and forms a smooth streamline, which weakens the entrainment with the mainstream. The location of the bimodal structure far away from leading edge helps to produce smooth streamlines and make the flow field smoother, and reduces the area of high turbulent kinetic energy region near leading edge and in tip clearance outflow region significantly. The arrangement position of bimodal structure close to leading edge can produce a low-speed zone or a recirculation zone in the mainstream, which can block the mainstream flow and reduce the energy characteristics of the hydrofoil.