Hydrodynamic Design of Facilities

The Laboratory designed and tested selected components of a large cavitation channel for the Navy. (Photo courtesy of DTNSRDC)

The laboratory has been responsible for the hydrodynamic design of major research facilities including the 36" David Taylor Model Basin water tunnel, the US Navy Large Cavitation Channel(LCC), the largest water tunnel in the world, and the Hydroacoustic and Cavitation Facility (HYKAT) in Hamburg, Germany, which is also the premier facility for hydrodynamics/hydroacoustic research in that country. A specially designed facility was used at SAFL to solve a significant cavitation problem at the Guri Dam in Venezuela, still the world's largest hydropower station in the world.

This research and design experience was utilized in the development of several major research facilities at SAFL including:

• The 19 cm High Speed Water Tunnel (the quietest facility of its type in the country)
• The 6" multi-purpose water tunnel
• Ultra-low cavitation number free jet water tunnel
• SAFL Independent Turbine Test Facility
• Depressurized spillway test section

These facilities are complemented by extensive computational capability at the laboratory and at the Minnesota Supercomputer Center.