Numerical Analysis of Flow around Propeller Rotating Beneath Free Surface
This paper provides the numerical results of a simulation of the flow around a propeller working beneath the free surface. A finite volume method is used to solve the unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations, where the wave-making problem is solved using a volume-of-fluid (VOF) method. The numerical analysis focuses on the propeller wake structure affected by the free surface, where we consider another free surface boundary condition that treats the free surface as a rigid wall surface. The propeller wake under the effect of these two free surface conditions shows a reduction in the magnitude of the longitudinal and vertical flow velocities, and its vortical structures strongly interact with the free surface. The thrust and torque coefficient under the free surface effect decrease about 3.7% and 3.1%, respectively. Finally, the present numerical results show a reasonable agreement with the available experimental data.