Compared with open propellers, the impeller of a tunnel thruster is more vulnerable to cavitation and
structural vibration problems because the impeller is typically subject to severe non-uniformity of inflow produced
by the blunt gearbox. Model tests and numerical simulations are carried out in the cavitation tunnel of Shanghai
Jiao Tong University for a tunnel thruster using a “flat plate” impeller and a tip-unloaded one. The characteristics
of fluctuating pressures on the tunnel wall and the resultant excitation forces are investigated. It is found that
although unloading the blade tips of an impeller is effective in reducing the fluctuating pressures in a local tunnel
wall area near the tips, the same trend does not apply to the case of the excitation forces. The results show
that care should be taken when the experimentally measured fluctuating pressures are utilized as the input to the
analysis of structural vibrations.
YU Cheng (郁程), DONG Xiaoqian (董小倩), YANG Chenjun (杨晨俊), LI Wei (李巍), NOBLESSE Francis
. Effects of Blade Loading Distribution on the Cavitation and Excitation Forces of a Tunnel Thruster[J]. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University(Science), 2019
, 24(2)
: 158
-167
.
DOI: 10.1007/s12204-019-2052-z
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