Vorticity Confinement Technique and Blade Element Method for Accurate Propeller Modelling

Abstract

Traditional CFD techniques are not effective in preserving wakes and vortices over larger distances and for longer times. Vorticity Confinement (VC) technique helps counter the numerical diffusion to preserve wakes and vortices. In the current study, VC was used to accurately model the propeller flow using two different propeller modelling techniques after being implemented into SU2, an open-source CFD solver. One resolves flow past the propeller by solving RANS equations in a rotating reference frame. Another is a simplified propeller modelling technique in which the propeller needs to be modelled as a disk, and the propeller loading is determined using the blade element method. In the first case, VC enabled tip and hub vortices to convect over larger distances from the propeller, along with an improved resolution of gradients in the tip vortex. With the latter technique, VC helped conserve the tangential velocities for longer distances.