Propeller tip vortex simulation using adaptive grid refinement based on flow feature identification

Pashias, Christos (2005) Propeller tip vortex simulation using adaptive grid refinement based on flow feature identification. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

In this thesis a novel 2-D vortex identification scheme is refined and extended to 3-D. The developed method is applied to a 3-D wing and two marine propellers; DTMB P4119 and INSEAN E779A. In addition a wake identification scheme is developed and applied to a 3-D wing.

The vortex identification method is based on a simple mathematical scheme applied on 2-D planes. The vortex is identified by locating the point closest to the most variance in the velocity direction. The method is extended to 3-D by the use of a series of planes. Multiple cortices can be identified using this method.

The cortex and wake identification schemes have been applied in conjunction with adaptive grid refinement on a 3-D wing showing improved agreement with experimental results. The vortex dependency on grid size has been demonstrated.

The vortex identification scheme has been extended such that it can identify complex vortex core lines, typical of marine propellers and the results compared to experiments. An improved agreement has been demonstrated for the grid adapted cases.

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