Influence of Leading Edge Radii on Hydrodynamic Performances of a Foil Section

Influence of Leading Edge Radii on Hydrodynamic Performances of a Foil Section

The incompressible Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS) equations are solved using the standard $\textsc{k}-\varepsilon$ turbulence model and a finite volume method(FVM)with an O-type grid system. The computed results for its performance test are in good agreement with the published experimental data. The present method is applied to the study on the leading edge radius of a hydrofoil section Calculated results suggest that the leading edge radius has some effects on cavitation performances of a 2-D foil. A natural leading edge radius for the NACA66 section is determined from this study.