Using RANS to Simulate the Interaction and overall Performance of Propellers and Rudders with Thrust Fins

The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method, along with the Fluent software package, was used to study the steady and unsteady interaction of propellers and rudders with additional thrust fins.The sliding mesh model was employed to simulate unsteady interactions between the blades, the rudder and the thrust fins.Based on the numerical results, the pressure distribution on the propeller and the efficiency of the fins were calculated as a function of the attack angle.The RANS results were compared with results calculated by the potential method.It was found that the results for the potential method and the RANS method have good consistency, but they yield maximum efficiencies for the fins, and thus corresponding attack angles, that are not identical.

Analysis of the flow pattern and periodicity of gas–liquid–liquid three-phase flow in a countercurrent mixer-settler

In contrast to the concurrent mixer-settler,the interaction between the mixing and settling chambers have to be taken into account in the simulation of the countercurrent mixer-settler,and no work has been reported for this equipment.In this work,a three-phase flow model based on the Eulerian multiphase model,coupled with a sliding mesh model is proposed for a countercurrent mixer-settler.Based on this,the dispersed phase distribution,flow pattern,and pressure distribution are investigated,which can help to fill the gap in the operation mechanism.In addition,the velocity vector distribution at the phase port shows an intriguing phenomenon that two types of vectors with opposite directions are distributed on the left and right sides of the same plane,which indicates that the material exchange in the mixing and settling chambers is simultaneous.Analysis of this variation at this location by a fast Fourier transform(FFT)method reveals that it is mainly influenced by the mixing chamber and is consistent with the main period of the outlet flow fluctuations.Therefore,by monitoring the fluctuation of the outlet flow and then analyzing it by the FFT method,the state of the whole tank can be determined,which makes it promising for the design of control systems for countercurrent mixer-settlers.

Numerical investigation of the effect of rotation on cavitating flows over axisymmetric cavitators

The rotating axisymmetric cavitator is widely applied in underwater vehicles, and its rotational motion affects the cavita- ting flow over the cavitator. This study focuses on the effect of rotation on the flow structure in the cavity bubble. Unsteady 2-D/3-D numerical simulations of cavitating flows over axisymmetric cavitators are performed using the volume of fraction （VOF） method and the Sauer-Schnerr cavitation model. Firstly, the 2-D simulation of cavitating flow over a circular disk or a cone cavitator is carried out at various cavitation numbers （0.15, 0.175, 0.2, 0.225 and 0.25）. The simulated cavity lengths and drag coefficients are compared with the experimental data, the theoretical estimations and the published numerical results. Then the 3-D simulations of cavitating flows over the same axisymmetric cavitators with different rotating speeds are performed using the sliding mesh model （SMM）. The effect of rotation on the cavity shape and the internal flow structure is analyzed.