Towed Underwater SPIV Measurement of Flow Fields Around a Surface-Piercing Cylinder With Free Surface Effects

Effects of free surface on development of turbulent boundary layer and wake fields were investigated. By measuring flow field around a surface piercing cylinder in various advance speed conditions in a towing tank, free surface effects were identified. A towed underwater Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) system was used to measure the flow field under free surface. The cross section of the test model was water plane shape of the Wigley hull, of which longitudinal length and width were 1.0 m and 100 mm, respectively. With sharp bow shape and slender cross section, flow separation was not expected in two-dimensional flow. Flow fields near the free-surface and in deep location that two-dimensional flow field was expected were measured and compared to identify free-surface effects. Some planes perpendicular to longitudinal direction near the model surface and behind the model were selected to track development of turbulent boundary layer. Froude numbers of the test conditions were from 0.126 to 0.40 and corresponding Reynolds numbers were from 395,000 to 1,250,000. In the lowest Froude number condition, free-surface wave was hardly observed and only free surface effects without surface wave could be identified while violent free-surface behavior due to wave-induced separation dominated the flow fields in the highest Froude number condition. From the instantaneous velocity fields, Time-mean velocity, turbulence kinetic energy, and flow structure derived by proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) were analyzed. As the free-surface effect, development of retarded wake, free-surface waves, and wave-induced separation were mainly observed.