The Emerson Cavitation Tunnel is a propeller testing facility that is part of the School of Engineering at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

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 pump, with a four-bladed

impeller An impeller, or impellor, is a driven rotor used to increase the pressure and flow of a fluid. It is the opposite of a turbine, which extracts energy from, and reduces the pressure of, a flowing fluid. Strictly speaking, propellers are a sub-clas ...

and can produce a maximum water velocity of . The test area has a cross sectional area of allowing model propellers of up to in diameter to be tested. The pressure range of the tunnel can vary from a minimum of 7.6 kN/m² to a maximum of 106 kN/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 Argon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ar and atomic number 18. It is in group 18 of the periodic table and is a noble gas. Argon is the third most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere, at 0.934% (9340 ppmv). It is more than twice as abu ...

-ion laser, a hydrophone, and two

dynamometer A dynamometer or "dyno" is a device for simultaneously measuring the torque and rotational speed ( RPM) of an engine, motor or other rotating prime mover so that its instantaneous power may be calculated, and usually displayed by the dyna ...

s. A high-speed video camera is also attached with an imaging frequency of 1–10,000 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 Scottish Universities of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

History

The tunnel was first established at the university in 1949 after being disassembled and transported from Pelzerhaken,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 be 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 tube A pitot tube ( ; also pitot probe) measures fluid flow velocity. It was invented by French engineer Henri Pitot during his work with aqueducts and published in 1732, and modified to its modern form in 1858 by Henry Darcy. It is widely use ...

s, a

tachometer A tachometer (revolution-counter, tach, rev-counter, RPM gauge) is an instrument measuring the rotation speed of a axle, shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrat ...

, stroboscopic lighting equipment, contact meters and a

vacuum pump A vacuum pump is a type of pump device that draws gas particles from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. The first vacuum pump was invented in 1650 by Otto von Guericke, and was preceded by the suction pump, which dates to ...

. 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 was housed in Newcastle University's old boiler house, where it was originally reconstructed. That location was on King's Road in the middle of the university's city centre campus between the Armstrong building, the

Student Union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...

, the Arches and the Bedson building. In 2016, the tunnel was moved from the Newcastle University city centre campus and taken to Poland, where it was fully refurbished before being brought back to the North East and installed in a new purpose-built research centre, Marine campus at Blyth. The first research grant of £8,000 was awarded in 1950 for the testing of a new series of

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s, 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. Modifications were made to the tunnel during the 1980s. New computer-based data collection, interpretation and analysis technology has been added to aid with

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid dynamics, fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required ...

. Data is also collected with the help of laser doppler anemometry (LDA) and phase doppler anemometry (PDA).

Location

The tunnel is now located at Newcastle University's Marine Campus at Blyth, Northumberland.

References

External links

Emerson Cavitation Tunnel website
at Newcastle University
School of Engineering
at Newcastle University {{University of Newcastle upon Tyne Buildings at Newcastle University Fluid dynamics Fluid mechanics Science and technology in Tyne and Wear Shipbuilding in England 1949 establishments in England

Capabilities

History

Location

See also

References

External links