Experimental investigation and numerical prediction of cavitation incurred on propeller surfaces

Multiple types of cavitation appearing on the surface of a marine propeller when the ship advances with high speed cause the decline of the propeller’s performance and/or damages (erosions) to the propeller. Therefore, better understandings of the cavitation formations and the ability to predict them are important to a successful propeller design. This paper presents image results of cavitation incurred on the suction surfaces of a specific propeller and analyzes these images to obtain the statistical parameters of cavitations such as their sizes, locations, and occupied areas. These experimental results are used to evaluate the accuracy of the associated RANS simulations in order to identify issues of turbulence and cavitation models commonly used in such simulations.