Project:	Experimental study of propeller flow air ventilation
Disciplines:	Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics
Mentor:	Cong Wang, Assistant Professor, (EAS), cong-wang-1@uiowa.edu, Phone: 626-437-8816
Background:	NOTE 1: This project is being offered by a Caltech alum and is open only to Caltech students. The project will be conducted at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. NOTE 2: Dr. Wang is offering three different projects. Please include "Caltech SURF + project title" in the subject line when emailing Dr. Wang. The propeller of a ship is designed to operate far away from the free surface area without any contact with air. However, under certain operating conditions, a large volume of air can be injected into regions near the rotating propeller by vortex flows connecting to the free surface. This fundamental phenomenon, known as air ventilation, can substantially downgrade the propelling efficiency of free surface ships. This project will experimentally investigate the flow physics of air ventilation near a rotating propeller.
Description:	The student will work with Prof. Cong Wang in designing and setting up the experiment for studying propeller flow. The experiment setup should allow easy and quick adjustment of the relative position of propeller to the free surface. To better understand the dynamic process of air ventilation, a high-speed 2D-PIV system and an accurate triggering system (using magnetic sensor) will be developed. Such a flow diagnosis system will generate quantitative time-resolved velocity data of the propeller flow. In addition, the phase-averaged velocity data will be generated, which will shed light on the critical dynamic vortical structures for air ventilation.
References:	Young YL, Valles Z, Di Napoli I, Montero FM, Minerva LF, Harwood C. Wave effects on the hydroelastic response of a surface-piercing hydrofoil. Part 2. Cavitating and ventilating flows. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 2023;965:A3. doi:10.1017/jfm.2023.254
Student Requirements:	Basic knowledge and interest in physics, mechanics, and vector calculus is required. Skills in hands-on experiment (mechanical design, optics, camera, laser, etc) and data analysis (matlab, python, etc) are preferred.
Programs:	This AO can be done under the following programs:   Program    Available To        SURF    Caltech students only  Click on a program name for program info and application requirements.