Preparation of experimental and numerical research on unsteady cavitating flow around hydrofoil

¹ Centre of Hydraulic Research, J. Sigmunda 190, 783 49 Lutín, Czech Republic
² Institute of Thermomechanics ASCR, v.v.i., Dolejškova 5, 182 00 Praha 8, Czech Republic
³ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Liberec, Hálkova 6, 461 17 Liberec, Czech Republic
⁴ SIGMA Research and Development Institute, J. Sigmunda 79, 783 50 Lutín, Czech Republic

^a Corresponding author: m.komarek@sigma.cz

Published online: 6 May 2015

Abstract

This paper describes the preparation of the experimental setup and the results of the CFD analysis for the investigation of the unsteady cavitating flow around a prismatic NACA 2412 hydrofoil at different flow conditions. The experimental research is carried out in the cavitation water tunnel located in the Centre of Hydraulic Research in Lutín. The tunnel is integrated into the closed horizontal loop of the hydraulic test rig. The transparent test section provides a full view of the flow around the hydrofoil. The hydrofoil incidence angle is fully adjustable. Two variants of hydrofoil of the same geometry have been designed. One variant is equipped with pressure tap holes for the measurement of the static pressure, and the other variant is covered with a grid of five PVDF films, fully integrated in the hydrofoil. The PVDF films enable to measure the impact forces exerted on the hydrofoil surface by the collapsing cavitation structures. The high-frequency pressure oscillations downstream of the hydrofoil trailing edge are measured using the PVDF hydrophone. The cavitating flow is visualized using two simultaneously operating high-speed cameras providing the top and side views of the flow. A preliminary CFD analysis using the ANSYS CFX package helped to determine the flow regimes for the experimental study. The obtained CFD results agree well with the preliminary measurements.