Numerical analysis of ridge-induced pressure distribution in hydrofoils

Pressure distribution impacts marine components like propellers and hydrofoils, causing efficiency loss and material degradation when local pressure drops below vaporisation levels. Mitigating the formation of low-pressure regions on hydrodynamic component surfaces is critical. This study investigated the suction surface geometry on an NACA 66 hydrofoil through the integration of strategically positioned ridge configurations with varying dimensional characteristics. The static pressure, vortex structures, velocity field and hydrodynamic characteristics of the hydrofoils with ridge features were numerically studied. Parametric investigations demonstrate that increasing the size of ridge structures is more effective in minimising chordwise low-pressure regions than extending their coverage along the suction side. Under the condition of constant flow velocity, increased attack angles improve the ability of ridge structures to reduce low-pressure regions, but also lower the lift-to-drag ratio of hydrofoils. At an attack angle θ = 10°, larger ridge structures can reduce the low-pressure area by 28.57%.