Numerical simulation of the structure of propeller's tip vortex and wake

By means of numerical simulation, the evolvement of tip vortex and vortical trailing wake of a propeller were studied in details. From upstream of leading edge up to downstream of trailing edge, the tip vortices region extends rapidly and becomes sizable, which reason is that the transport of vortices between trailing wake and tip vortex takes place. The trailing wake region or the tip vortex region, each consists of sub-regions. The direction of the vortices in one of the sub-regions is opposite to that of the other sub-region. Each sub-region is structured with vortex layers of varying strength. The trailing wake possesses significant thickness and the tip vortex region occupies sizable space. The present analysis also show that within certain distance downstream from tailing edge, although the size and the configuration of the vortices region varies with going backwards, the total vortices flux through each station almost remains constant.