Emerson Cavitation Tunnel

Infobox University
name = Emerson Cavitation Tunnel
native_name =
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motto =
established = 1949
type =
endowment =
staff = Prof. Mehmet Atlar - Director
faculty =
rector =
chancellor =
principal =
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free_label =
free =
students =
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city = Newcastle upon Tyne
state = Tyne & Wear
country = England
campus =
affiliations = Newcastle University
website = [http://ncl.ac.uk/sage ncl.ac.uk/cavitation]

The Emerson Cavitation Tunnel is a propeller testing facility based at Newcastle University, UK. The tunnel is based in the department of Marine Science and Technology, and is currently the second largest cavitation tunnel in the UK, the largest being that owned by the Ministry of Defence at Haslar.

Capabilities

The Emerson Cavitation Tunnel consists of a water circuit which flows in the vertical plane, within which propellers and other propulsion devices can be tested. The system is powered by a 300 kW pump, with a four-bladed impeller and can produce a maximum water velocity of 15.5 knots. The test area has a cross sectional area of 0.99m² allowing model propellers of up to 400mm in diameter to be tested. The pressure range of the tunnel can vary from a minimum of 7.6kN/m² to a maximum of 106kN/m². Cavitation numbers of 0.5 (minimum) to 23 (maximum) can be accommodated for. Measurements can be taken using a 3 Watt, water-cooled, Argon-ion laser, a hydrophone, and two dynamometers. A high-speed video camera is also attached with an imaging frequency of 0-50 frames per second.

Funding for the tunnel's equipment is raised by numerous organisations, including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde.

History

: "A full history of the Emerson Cavitation Tunnel is available at [http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cavitation www.ncl.ac.uk/cavitation] "

The tunnel was first established at the University in 1949 after being disassembled and transported from Pelzerhaken, Germany after the Second World War. The tunnel arrived at the University in 1947 and over the following few years the tunnel was heavily modified. The tunnel - which was originally designed to operated in the horizontal plane - was converted into a vertical loop tunnel and the length was reduced by half. The original observation window was modified and two more added. Because of damage, a new impeller was constructed and numerous pieces of measuring equipment were added. This equipment included pitot tubes, a tachometer, stroboscopic lighting equipment, contact meters and a vacuum pump. The tunnel was connected to an electrical supply in 1949 and entered service late in 1950, after technical problems called for recalibration of some of the instruments. The Cavitation Tunnel is still housed in Newcastle University's old boiler house, where it was originally reconstructed.

The first research grant of £8,000 was awarded in 1950 for the testing of a new series of propellers, and was awarded by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).

In the 1970s and 1980s, the tunnel was extensively modified and upgraded in order to improve the range of propellers that could be tested. The tunnel was also renamed to its current name, the "Emerson Cavitation Tunnel" after Dr Arnold Emerson, who was the tunnel superintendent and the driving force behind the upgrades.

Since the upgrades of the 1980s, few other modifications have been made to the tunnel itself. New computer-based data collection, interpretation and analysis technology has been added to aid with computational fluid dynamics. Data is also collected with the help of laser doppler anemometry (LDA) and phase doppler anemometry (PDA).

See also

* Water tunnel (hydrodynamic)
* Ship model basin

External links

* [http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cavitation Emerson Cavitation Tunnel website] at Newcastle University
* [http://www.ncl.ac.uk/marine/ Department of Marine Science and Technology] at Newcastle University