A new design approach using the concept of a twisted rudder to improve rudder performances has been proposed in the current paper. A correction step was introduced to obtain the accurate inflow angles induced by the propeller. Three twisted rudders were designed with different twist angle distributions and were tested both numerically and experimentally to estimate their hydrodynamic characteristics at a relatively high ship speed. The improvement in the twisted rudders compared to a reference flat rudder was assessed in terms of total cavitation amount, drag and lift forces, and moment for each twin rudder. The total amount of surface cavitation on the final optimized twin twisted rudder at a reference design rudder angle decreased by 43% and 34.4% in the experiment and numerical prediction, respectively. The total drag force slightly increased at zero rudder angle than that for the twin flat rudder but decreased at rudder angles higher than 4° and 6° in the experiment and numerical simulation, respectively. In the experimental measurements, the final designed twin twisted rudder gained a 5.5% increase in the total lift force and a 37% decrease in the maximum rudder moment. Regarding these two performances, the numerical results corresponded to an increase of 3% and a decrease of 66.5%, respectively. In final, the present numerical and experimental results of the estimation of the twisted rudder performances showed a good agreement with each other.

In this paper, the inception of tip vortex cavitation in weak water has been predicted using a numerical simulation, and a new scaling concept with variable exponent has also been suggested for cavitation inception index. The numerical simulations of the cavitating flows over an elliptic planform hydrofoil were performed by using the RANS approach with a Eulerian cavitation model. To ensure the accuracy of the present simulations, the effects of the turbulence model and grid resolution on the tip vortex flows were investigated. The turbulence models behaved differently in the boundary layer of the tip region where the tip vortex is developed, which resulted in different pressure and velocity fields in the vortex region. Furthermore, the Reynolds stress model for the finest grid showed a better agreement with the experimental data. The tip vortex cavitation inception numbers for the foil, predicted by using both wetted and cavitating flow simulation approaches, were compared with the measured cavitation index values, showing a good correlation. The current cavitation scaling study also suggested new empirical relations as a function of the Reynolds number substitutable for the two classic constant scaling exponents. This scaling concept showed how the scaling law changes with the Reynolds number and provided a proper scaling value for any given Reynolds numbers under turbulent flow conditions.

In order to investigate the influence of thru holes near leading edge of model propeller on cavitation behavior, a model propeller with thru holes was manufactured and tested at Large Cavitation Tunnel (LCT). The pressure distribution around the thru hole on propeller blade was numerically calculated to help understand the local flow characteristics related to cavitation behavior. The model propeller is a five bladed propeller which has 2 blades with thru holes and 3 blades with smooth surface. The cavitation observation tests were conducted at angles of 0°& 6°using an inclined-shaft dynamometer in LCT. There are big difference on the suction side cavitation behavior each other due to the existence of thru hole. While the blades with thou holes start generation of the sheet cavitation from the leading edge on the suction side, the blades with smooth surface generate the cloud cavitation from the mid-chord. Cavitation on the blades with thru holes shows more similar behavior to those of the full-scale propeller of which the pipe line for air injection is closed. The numerical analysis result shows that the sharp pressure drop occurs around thru holes on the blade. Consequently, the thru hole around leading edge stimulates the cavitation occurrence and stabilizes the cavitation behavior. Based on these results, the effect of thru holes on propeller cavitation behavior behind a model ship should be studied in the future.

One of the important things in a ship’s rudder design is the incidence angle of the rudder inflow to improve rudder cavitation performance. In the present study, the rudder inflow is measured by a 3-D LDV (laser Doppler velocimetry) system in a large cavitation tunnel, where the ship model tests are performed at a rather high Reynolds number of 107~108. Through the evaluation of the transverse velocity component using water injection experiments in the test section, the reliability of the 3-D LDV measurements is confirmed. The three-dimensional velocity components of rudder inflow between the rudder and propeller are successfully measured and are compared with numerical simulation results to see good agreement. The incidence angle distribution of the rudder inflow is obtained from the 3-D velocity components and shows a large angle at the range of 0.5 < Z/Span < 0.9, where the cavitation mainly occurred. The asymmetry-type rudder proposed based on rudder inflow measurements showed outstanding improvement of cavitation performance, compared with the flat-type rudder.

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