The numerical prediction and analysis of propeller cavitation benchmark tests of YUPENG ship model

Abstract

The numerical simulation of propeller cavitation benchmark tests of YUPENG ship model is studied based on OpenFOAM, an open-source CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) platform, and the benchmark tests are introduced as well. The propeller cavitation shape and the hull pressure fluctuation are measured and predicted, respectively. The uncertainty in hull pressure fluctuation measurement is also analyzed, and the analysis showed the uncertainty is below 10%. The cavitation shape and the hull pressure fluctuation predicted show quite good agreement with the observations and measured data, and the influences of the grid resolutions on the unsteady propeller cavitation and the hull pressure fluctuation are investigated as well. The monotonic convergence achieved and the quite small grid uncertainty illustrate the reliability of the numerical simulation methods.