Design Algorithm of Flexible Propeller by Fluid-Structure Interactive Analysis

Abstract

2This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Flexible composite propellers are subject to large deformation under heavy loading, and hence the hydrodynamic performance of deformed propeller might deviate from that of the metallic propeller under negligible deformation. To design the flexible propeller, it is therefore necessary to be able to evaluate the structural response of the blades to the hydrodynamic loadings, and then the influence of the blade deformation upon the hydrodynamic loadings. We use the lifting-surface-theory-based propeller analysis and design codes in solving the hydrodynamic problem, and the finite-element-method program formulated with 20-node iso-parametric solid elements for the analysis of the structural response. The two different hydrodynamic and structural programs are arranged to communicate through the carefully-designed interface scheme which leads to the derivation of the geometric parameters such as the pitch, the rake and the skew distributions common to both programs. The design of flexible propellers, suitable for manufacturing, is shown to perform the required thrust performance when deformed in operation. Sample design shows the fast iteration scheme and the robustness of the design procedure of the flexible propellers.

Performance Prediction of Composite Marine Propeller in Non-Cavitating and Cavitating Flow

“…Lee et al manufactured composite propellers using compression molding process, and their hydrodynamic performances and radiation noise were measured [7,8]. Jang et al developed a new design procedure for a flexible propeller under steady conditions, using a coupled vortex lattice method (VLM)-FEM, and analyzed a simply supported flexible plate under a uniformly distributed load [9,10]. Recently, the application of composite propellers has been extended to commercial vessels that require high fuel efficiency and lighter shafts.…”