Investigation of the Interaction of a Propeller Wake with a Downstream Rudder via Large-Eddy Simulation

Large-Eddy Simulations are reported on the INSEAN E1658 propeller, upstream of a NACA0020 hydrofoil, to mimic the interaction of the propeller wake with a downstream rudder. The same three values of advance coefficient as in an earlier validation study on the INSEAN E1658 propeller in open-water conditions are considered. Results demonstrate that the wake of the propeller is dramatically modified by the presence of the hydrofoil. Each tip vortex and the hub vortex are split into two branches, experiencing a significant spanwise displacement across the hydrofoil, which occurs towards opposite directions for tip and hub vortices. These phenomena trigger higher levels of turbulence, compared to the open-water configuration, due to an increased interaction involving the coherent structures populating the propeller wake and the boundary layer on the hydrofoil. A strong anti-symmetry of the overall wake is produced by the spanwise shift on the two sides of the