Large eddy simulation of tip-leakage cavitating flow around twisted hydrofoil with effects of tip clearance and skew angle

Tip-leakage cavitating flow around hydrofoils has attracted much research interest, but the complex structures of tip separation vortex (TSV) and tip-leakage vortex (TLV) have not been clearly resolved and discussed with the effects of tip clearance and skew angle yet. In the present work, large eddy simulation (LES) with multi-level octree grid refinement is used to investigate the tip-leakage flows around a series of twisted hydrofoils with various skew angle and tip clearance. High resolution is guaranteed by the normalized grid sizes of y(+) < 1, Delta x(+) similar to 50 and increment Delta z(+) similar to 10, through which the predicted flow meets the criterion that at least 80% of the turbulent kinetic energy is resolved. The TSVs are identified to grow from the entire lower edge of the tip and twine with the TLV into a primary vortex tube, which leads to counter-rotating induced vortices (IV) strongly twisted around the primary vortex in the case of medium tip clearance but weakened for small one. Cavitation effect significantly accelerates the roll-up process of the vortices so that the primary vortex is formed earlier. The tip-leakage flow turns from wake-like to jet-like when the clearance is reduced, but the jet velocity diminishes markedly for extremely small clearance. The hydrofoil skewness barely makes a lift on the vortex tube, distinctive from the effect of tip clearance variation. The adverse pressure gradient induced by the skew angle has significant effect on the laminar-turbulent transition of the flow. The tip vortex flow induces strongly characterized laminar ant turbulent flow regions on the suction side, which continuously changes with the variation of the skewness.(c) 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, large eddy simulation is used to investigate the tip-leakage flows around hydrofoils with different tip clearance and skew angle. The results show that tip separation vortex (TSV) grows from the entire lower edge of the tip and twines with the tip-leakage vortex (TLV) into a primary vortex tube. Cavitation effect significantly accelerates the roll-up process of the vortices and the tip-leakage flow turns from wake-like to jet-like when the clearance is reduced. The skewness of the hydrofoil has a significant effect on the laminar-turbulent transition of the flow.