• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.460-470
• /
• 2009

In recent practice a half round prismatic bar has fillet welded or formed through foundry work along the centerline on rear concave surface of the horn to mitigate gap flow between fixed and movable part of the rudder system. When the gap clearance has been blocked with this practice, numerical simulations indicate that the practices are not only effective in reducing the gap flow but also in mitigating the cavitation. The blocking effects are remarkably improved when a pair of blocking bar is bisymmetrically attached with respect to centerline on the opposite convex surface of the movable part. The blocking bar could be placed on the exposed surface under maximum rudder angle. This implies that the blocking bar could be easily adopted not only in a design stage but also in a maintenance stage for mitigating rudder cavitation. In addition, the numerical simulations imply that more improvements could be anticipated through the selection of section shape of prismatic bar for gap flow blocking.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.113-121
• /
• 2010

Recently, as container ships become larger and faster, rudder cavitations are more frequently observed near the gap between the horn and rudder plates of the ships to cause serious damages to the rudder surface of the ship. The authors already have suggested through a series of model experiments and numerical computations that employment of an appropriate blocking device for gap flow may retard the gap cavitation. For examples, a cam device installed near the outer edges of the vertical gap or a water-injection device combined with a pair of half-round bars installed inside the gap can considerably reduce the gap cavitation. However, it is also found that effective blocking of the flow through the vertical gap results in growth of the cavitation near the horizontal gap instead. In the present study, effectiveness of the simultaneous blocking of the flow through the horizontal and vertical gaps of a horn type rudder in minimizing the damage by gap cavitation is studied. Additional blocking disks are inserted inside the horizontal gaps on the top and bottom of the pintle block and numerical computations are carried out to confirm the combined effect of the blocking devices.