Cavitating tip vortices of marine propellers are the main contributors to underwater radiated ship noise due to their dynamic behavior and broadband sound spectrum. Experimentally, it is challenging to get a detailed insight into the vortex structure which makes it difficult to understand the noise generating mechanisms. Although Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) could offer a solution to this, knowledge regarding the modelling of the inception and dynamics of tip vortex cavitation is insufficient to obtain reliable numerical results in relation to noise predictions. To this end, an extensive verification and validation study in the context of transition and turbulence modelling of an elliptical planform with NACA66₂−415 cross-section (`Arndt’ wing) is carried out. The finite length of the lifting surface causes the generation of a tip vortex without the additional complexity of secondary motion (propeller rotation). CFD simulations are carried out using the community based open-usage code ReFRESCO.
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