Numerical prediction of cavitation erosion on a ship propeller in model- and full-scale

The cavitating flow around a ship propeller was simulated with an implicit RANS based flow solver using the Volume of Fluid (VoF) method to model the interface between the two phases. The sliding interface method was applied to simulate the rotation of the propeller, comprising a rotor and a stator region. Erosion was predicted with a numerical model based on the microjet hypothesis, using the information from the flow solution. Simulations of a propeller under non-cavitating and cavitating conditions were compared to experimental measurements, thereby demonstrating the ability of the presented numerical method to qualitatively predict cavitation erosion for a ship propeller.