Impact of cavitation and inflow perturbation on the performance of a horizontal-axis tidal turbine

Abstract

The impact of cavitation and inflow perturbation by an upstream support structure on the performance of a horizontal-axis tidal turbine has been studied by experiments at model scale in a depressurized water channel at CNR-INM. Measurements of turbine generated power and thrust have been carried out at varying channel flow speed, tip-speed ratio, and cavitation number. The visualization of cavitation patterns has been associated with the performance measurements to identify the role played by different cavitation types on turbine behavior. Radiated noise measurement were also performed to assess the impact of cavitation phenomena on turbine induced acoustic signature.