One of World’s Largest Water Pressure Tunnels Provides Unique Opportunity for Researchers at Carderock

One of World's Largest Water Pressure Tunnels Provides Unique Opportunity for Researchers at Carderock

By Edvin Hernandez, NSWC Carderock Division Public Affairs

Matthew Brantz, the Site Director of Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division's Large Cavitation Channel (LCC) in Memphis, Tennessee, led a tour of the detachment's unique and powerful testing capabilities to key researchers and scientists from multiple government and academic institutions on July 25, 2024.

The LCC, which is one of the world's largest and most advanced high-speed, variable-pressure water tunnel facilities, is being used for cavitation erosion prevention testing. Several samples of metal coatings are being evaluated inside the detachment's closed loop water tunnel using a controlled current that is generating a speed of about 25 knots, which is equivalent to about 28 miles per hour. In the coming days, the Carderock team will generate an even stronger current, closer to 35 knots, to better understand the fundamental hydrodynamics that lead to flows that create erosion. According to Brantz, testing will occur at night to optimize energy efficacy.

Researchers from the University of Michigan, University of Memphis, Office of Naval Research, Carderock and the Bureau of Reclamation had the opportunity to see the underwater current, which used millions of gallons of water, through the facility's tightly bolted windows while on the tour. Naval Architect Dr. Thad Michael explained the testing process, including an overview of materials and samples used, and emphasized the lab's significance to the visitors.

"This is a cavitation erosion test almost at full-scale; it really is the first of its kind," Michael said. "The LCC is one of the only places in the world where you can do testing like this. We needed to find a test facility where you could achieve close to full-scale speed and somewhere to install something large. In this case, we have a foil that is 2.1 meters long, which is roughly the size of a rudder on a [U.S. Navy] destroyer."

The visiting researchers and scientists were part of the Cavitation-Resistant Materials and Coating Workshop, which was hosted by the FedEx Institute of Technology at the U of M in Tennessee. The one-day workshop served as a conduit for knowledge, transferring information on state-of-the-art materials, coatings and their manufacture, to improve cavitation erosion resistance.

Carderock, which has maintained an academic partnership with the U of M since 2021, is collaborating with its partners to not only advance Navy research in cavitation, but to also develop solutions that could result in countless cost-saving dollars to the fleet.

"The University of Memphis and the University of Michigan have contributed valuable pieces to this testing," Michael said. "It was a real team effort and we each have our own strengths. The University of Memphis and Carderock conducted preliminary materials testing while the University of Michigan executed some scaled testing in their unique facility. That was important for us because it identified different types of loads we needed to consider. This was a unique and beneficial opportunity for us all."

Before the tour ended, Brantz discussed Carderock's plan to add an unmanned capabilities lab to the detachment. Although it is not yet operational, Carderock's Naval Architecture and Engineering Department believes it will become a critical space for future design and testing capabilities for unmanned systems for the Navy.

Carderock is one of the Navy's pre-eminent research and development facilities that specializes in critical ship design components headquartered in West Bethesda, Maryland. The Carderock Division supports small-scale model testing and evaluation of next-generation surface ships and underwater vessels. The three foci components of Carderock are: Platform Integrity, Signatures and Naval Architecture and Engineering. Carderock, a Naval Surface Warfare Center and a major component and field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command, is "Where the Fleet Beings," and is comprised of state-of-art, world-class facilities found nowhere else on earth, including the David Taylor Model Basin and the Maneuvering and Seakeeping Basin, as well as support research detachments in Bayview, Idaho, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Ketchikan, Alaska, Memphis, Tennessee, Norfolk, Virginia, Titusville, Florida, and Silverdale, Washington.

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/CarderockDivision or https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Carderock/.