Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88841
Title: CAVitation Experimentation Acquisition Technology (CAVEAT)
Authors: Mizzi, Simon
Zammit Munro, Marianna
De Marco Muscat-Fenech, Claire
Sant, Tonio
Keywords: Ships -- Hydrodynamics
Metals -- Testing
Materials science
Materials -- Mechanical properties
Strength of materials
Ship resistance
Issue Date: 2022
Publisher: University of Malta, Malta (Coordinator), University of Strathclyde, GB, University of Genoa, IT, Naval Architectural Services (NAS), Ltd, MT
Citation: Mizzi, S., Zammit Munro, M., De Marco Muscat-Fenech, C., & Sant, T. (2022). CAVitation Experimentation Acquisition Technology (CAVEAT).
Abstract: Cavitation around propellers and ship rudders is a hardly avoidable phenomenon with serious negative effects on the ship’s performance. Therefore, its better understanding and measurability is crucial for ship design. The current problem is that no device exists for measuring the hydrodynamic forces (lift and drag) acting on a hydrofoil (generic term for a lift-producing surface such as a ship rudder or propeller blade cross-section) in cavitation tunnels.
The force-measurement device being proposed shall address a current lacuna in the field of cavitation, i.e. the inability to measure lift and drag forces on hydrofoils in cavitation tunnels. Cavitation, which may be explained as cold boiling, produces vapour bubbles due to a high velocity. These vapour bubbles lead to erosion and hence significant damage to ship propellers and rudders. Our CAVEAT device is an innovative method of direct force measurement on models in cavitation tunnels. Such a device is difficult to design due to various constraints concerning the testing environment, i.e. a high-speed water tunnel that generates large forces on the models being tested.
Our CAVEAT device would greatly improve the design process of marine rudders and propellers, providing a degree of accuracy that at present is absent. The state-of-the-art results obtained from these experiments would also be used to validate CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations and provide a boost in the development of this type of software by increasing its reliability.
CAVEAT is a joint collaboration between the University of Malta (UM) and the University of Genoa (UniGe). The utilisation of CAVEAT will generate funds through the formation of strategic partnerships with leading maritime universities which are interested in conducting research or experimental projects for the maritime industry. By licensing the technology and know-how of the proposed device to such universities and other institutions, UM and UniGe will also gain more exposure, and the opportunity for additional partnerships in different parts of the world.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88841
Appears in Collections:Scholarly Works - FacEngME

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