In this paper, numerical simulation based on Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation and   k SST turbulence model is performed to investigate the hydrodynamic performance of Contra rotating propeller (CRP). The whole computation domain is divided into three sub-domains, which include the two rotating domains containing the fore and aft propellers, and the left outer domain. MRF(Multiple reference frame)coordinate system technique is used to simulate the rotation of the propeller. Fully structured gridding strategy is used to ensure the accuracy of the calculation and reduce computation time. The numerical simulation is verified by the experimental data of CRP6 and CRP7. Then, further analysis of the fluctuation of the thrust and torque is performed, as well as the hydrodynamic interference between the two forward and aft propellers.

Blade skew plays an important role in the prohibition of propeller cavitation and needs to be analyzed quantitatively. For this purpose, the cavitation of model propellers with different skew DTMB4381, 4382, 4383 and 4384 are investigated using commercially available software Ansys-Fluent. The SST k   model was used for turbulence modeling, and the QUICK scheme was selected as the discretization scheme. The results show that present simulation is accurate and reliable for predicting the propeller hydrodynamics with cavitation. On this basis, the influences of different skew on the appearance of cavitation are analyzed. It is found that the highly skewed blade can effectively delay the occurrence of cavitation.