A BEM for the modeling of unsteady propeller sheet cavitation inside of a cavitation tunnel

A boundary element method is applied to predict the unsteady cavitating performance of marine propellers subject to a non-axisymmetric inflow with the complete tunnel wall effect. The tunnel and propeller problem is solved directly to predict the fully unsteady performance of the cavitating propeller. The cavitation on blade and wake surface is determined by applying the dynamic and the kinematic boundary conditions on the cavity surface. The potential on the cavity surface is known from the dynamic boundary condition and the relation between cavitation number and cavity velocity. Once the boundary value problem is solved for the unknowns- the potentials on the wetted blade surface and the normal derivative of potentials on the cavity surface – the new cavity shape is adjusted by using the normal derivative of the potential. The potential on the new cavity surface is determined by using the kinematic boundary condition on the cavity. The procedure is repeated until the cavity shape converges and the pressure on the cavity becomes constant. To validate the present method, the effects of the number of blade panels and the dimensions of the tunnel walls on blade forces are presented. The predicted cavity patterns are compared with those observed from experiment.