An Investigation of the Hydrodynamic Effects of Enteromorpha clathrata Fouling on Hydrofoils

<p>The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of biological fouling on hydrofoils. NACA 4412 and 4415 hydrofoil models with 6 inch chord and 8 inch span were used in this study. A water tunnel facility was designed and constructed to perform the tests, and the results were verified using computational fluid dynamic modeling. The CFD software package <em>Fluent </em>was used to create a two dimensional model of the water tunnel test section and hydrofoil. The model was meshed using a Laplacian grid smoothing technique that forced the structured grid lines to follow the same approximate contour as the stream lines, allowing for quicker convergence of the solution matrix and a lower degree of rounding error than normally associated with this type of modeling. The fouling was added to the model by introducing a porous medium on the surface of the hydrofoil to simulate the characteristics of biological fouling. The results showed a constant increase in zero-lift angle of attack by 10 degrees for as little as 10 percent fouling, and a reduction in maximum lift by as much as 80 percent.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Year

1997

Author dc:creator

• Collino, Brian J.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Allen I. Ormsbee
• Tej R. Gupta
• Eric v. K. Hill

• biological fouling
• hydrofoils
• Enteromorpha clathra
• computational fluid dynamicsta
• Aerospace Engineering

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/51

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.erau.edu:db-theses-1067