An Experimental Analysis of the Structural Response of Flexible Lightweight Hydrofoils in Various Flow Conditions

Alexandra Lelong (1) , Pierre Guiffant (1) , Jacques André Astolfi (1)

1 IRENAV - Institut de Recherche de l'Ecole Navale

The paper presents the results of an experimental study of the hydroelastic response of flexible lightweight hydrofoils undergoing various flow conditions including unsteady partial cavitating flow. It is based on the analysis of the static deformation, the vibrations, the strains and the stresses of cantilevered hydrofoils, at Reynolds number ranging from 3.10⁵ to 6.10⁵ in a hydrodynamic tunnel. A specific distance measurement laser device was used to measure the static deformation of the hydrofoil for bending and twisting. The vibration response was measured by means of two laser vibrometers in order to identify the modal response, mainly the first bending and twisting modes. The strains and stresses were obtained from integrated strain gauges imbedded in the foil close to the root section. A high speed camera was used in order to analyze unsteady features of the cavitating flow in some cases. The paper presents the experimental setup and the main results are discussed.

Mots clés: flexible hydrofoil; cavitation; hydroelastic response; modal analysis

Domaines: Mécanique [physics]

Alexandra Lelong, Pierre Guiffant, Jacques André Astolfi. An Experimental Analysis of the Structural Response of Flexible Lightweight Hydrofoils in Various Flow Conditions. 16th International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery, Apr 2016, Honolulu, United States. ⟨hal-01890079⟩