A Study of Propeller Operation Near a Free Surface

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (04) ◽  
pp. 190-200
Author(s):  
Yuwei Li ◽  
Ezequiel Martin ◽  
Thad Michael ◽  
Pablo M. Carrica

This paper presents a study of the effects of the interaction of the free surface with a marine propeller operating close to it, including the effects of depth and cross flow. Extensive simulations using the naval hydrodynamics computational fluid dynamics solver REX were conducted to study the open water characteristics, transient blade loads, and flow behavior of propeller 4661, with comparison to fully submerged experimental data at 0° and 30° shaft inclination with respect to the incoming flow. Deeply submerged computations and experiments show that the cross flow results in an increase in thrust and torque and lower efficiency relative to uniform inflow. Near the surface, computations show that effects on thrust and torque increase more dramatically as the propeller load increases. Furthermore, the presence of the free surface breaks the symmetry resulting in highest blade force losses when the blade is near top dead center. As the propeller approaches the surface, the amplitude of the higher harmonics of blade force increases. A demonstration calculation for a self-propelled submarine sailing deep and near the surface shows that operating closer to the surface results in higher propeller loads and lower efficiency.

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-250
Author(s):  
Yasemin Arıkan Özden ◽  
Münir Cansın Özden ◽  
Ersin Demir ◽  
Sertaç Kurdoğlu

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Suboff Submarine propelled by the Italian Ship Model Basin (INSEAN) E1619 propeller is extensively used in submarine validation studies. Although there are several numerical studies where the DARPA Suboff submarine is used in combination with E1619 propeller there are no experimental data available in open literature for the self-propulsion condition. In this article, the self-propulsion characteristics of the DARPA Suboff submarine model with INSEAN E1619 propeller obtained with experimental and numerical methods are presented and discussed by means of Taylor wake fraction, thrust deduction, hull efficiency, relative rotative efficiency, and propulsive efficiency. To experimentally investigate the submarine form, a self-propulsion experimental setup is designed and manufactured. Resistance and self-propulsion experiments are conducted in Istanbul Technical University Ata Nutku Ship Model Testing Laboratory. Resistance tests are carried out for three different speeds, and the results show good agreement with the published experimental results. Propulsion tests are conducted by using the load-varying self-propulsion test method for constant speed and seven different propeller rotation rates. Rotational speed, thrust, and torque forces at self-propulsion point are investigated. For the numerical computations a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code is used. Propeller open water characteristics and nondimensional velocities behind the propeller are calculated. Self-propulsion point of the submarine and propeller assembly is also solved numerically and the results are compared with the results obtained from the experiments, and it is seen that especially the propeller rate of revolution and thrust force are predicted with very good approximation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemysław Król ◽  
Krzysztof Tesch

Abstract The article presents a numerical analysis of the CP745 marine propeller model by means of the improved vortex method and CFD simulations. Both numerical approaches are validated experimentally by comparing with open water characteristics of the propeller. The introduced modification of the vortex method couples the lifting surface approach for the propeller blades and the boundary element method for the hub. What is more, a simple algorithm for determination of the propeller induced advance angles is established. The proposed modifications provide better results than the original version of the vortex method. The accuracy of the improved method becomes comparable to CFD predictions, being at the same time a few hundred times faster than CFD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Houari Hussein ◽  
Kadda Boumediene ◽  
Samir Belhenniche ◽  
Omar Imine ◽  
Mohamed Bouzit

 The objective of the current paper is to study the flow around Seiun Maru Highly Skewed (HSP) marine propeller by assessment of blade forces and moments under non-cavitating case. The calculations are performed in open water (steady case) and non-uniform ship wake (Unsteady case). The governing equations based on Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes Equation (RANSE) are solved using Finite Volume Method. Ansys Fluent 14.0 is used to implement the simulation. For the steady case, Moving Reference Frame (MRF) is selected while sliding mesh technique is adopted for the unsteady case. Calculated open water performances in terms of thrust and torque coefficients fit very well with experimental data for a wide range of advance ratio. In the unsteady calculations, axial velocities, deduced from the nominal wake, are introduced in the Ansys fluent code. To locate suitably the non-uniform wake in the propeller front plane, three positions of inlet wake have been taken into account to determine their effects on the accuracy of the results. Obtained results show that computed performances are improved compared to panel method when the inlet is close to the propeller.  


Author(s):  
Yihan Xing ◽  
Kristian Fotland ◽  
Muk Chen Ong

Abstract Thrusters are vital for the functionalities of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The development of thruster design is a trade-off between cost, thrust force, physical weight and size. A six degree of freedom model is created in OpenModelica to investigate the vibrations and bearing responses in thruster systems. The model consists of a marine propeller, a shaft, and two bearings. The propeller used is based on the Wageningen B-screw propeller series. The hydrodynamic added mass and damping forces are calculated from empirical equations based on open water tests and are functions of the propeller geometry, rotational speed and fluid density. Meanwhile, the mean thrust and torque are obtained from open water test data of the relevant propeller and are used to calculate the dynamic forces and moments from the marine propeller. Displacements in the axial, horizontal, and vertical directions are calculated and used to investigate vibration amplitudes and bearing life. Initial steady-state simulations show that the bearing life of the bearings in the thruster is found to be highly dependent on the axial load acting on the bearing, i.e., the thrust force. Moreover, if the propeller is not balanced then high centrifugal forces can occur and result in severe forces in the radial direction which can be of concern regarding the bearing life.


Author(s):  
Minh Tran ◽  
Jonathan Binns ◽  
Shuhong Chai ◽  
Alexander L Forrest ◽  
Hung Nguyen

This article presents the open water propeller characteristics and the four-quadrant propeller models as applied to a torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle. A series of experiments with a Gavia autonomous underwater vehicle propeller were conducted in the towing tank using a rotor testing apparatus. The purpose of these tests was to measure the propeller thrust and torque under varying flow conditions and then to be used as the basis of the developed propeller models. These mathematical models were constructed using two regression models, a polynomial and a Fourier series. Model coefficients were derived using the method of least squares and a comparison analysis was also conducted to test the robustness of the methodology. Results show that the Fourier series models were able to produce a reasonable and accurate approximation of thrust and torque coefficients with a small number of parameters in the examined condition of this study. The obtained four-quadrant open water characteristics of the autonomous underwater vehicle propeller model would be utilised to improve the system mathematical model for more accurate simulation and controller design, to compare the autonomous underwater vehicle performance equipped with different propulsion units, and to validate computational fluid dynamic results.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Islam ◽  
Fatima Jahra ◽  
Michael Doucet

Mesh and domain optimization strategies for a RANS solver to accurately estimate the open water propulsive characteristics of fixed pitch propellers are proposed based on examining the effect of different mesh and computation domain parameters. The optimized mesh and domain size parameters were selected using Design of Experiments (DoE) methods enabling simulations to be carried out in a limited memory environment, and in a timely manner; without compromising the accuracy of results. A Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes solver is used to predict the propulsive performance of a fixed pitch propeller. The predicted thrust and torque for the propeller were compared to the corresponding measurements. A total of six meshing parameters were selected that could affect the computational results of propeller open water performance. A two-level fractional factorial design was used to screen out parameters that do not significantly contribute to explaining the dependent parameters: namely simulation time, propeller thrust and propeller torque. A total of 32 simulations were carried out only to find out that the selected six meshing parameters were significant in defining the response parameters. Optimum values of each of the input parameters were obtained for the DOE technique and additional simulations were run with those parameters. The simulation results were validated using open water experimental results of the same propeller. It was found that with the optimized meshing arrangement, the propeller opens simulation time was reduced by at least a factor of 6 as compared to the generally popular meshing arrangement. Also, the accuracy of propulsive characteristics was improved by up to 50% as compared to published simulation results. The methodologies presented in this paper can be similarly applied to other simulations such as calm water ship resistance, ship propulsion to systematically derive the optimized meshing arrangement for simulations with minimal simulation time and maximum accuracy. This investigation was carried out using STAR-CCM+, a commercial CFD package; however the findings can be applied to any RANS solver.


Author(s):  
Domenica Mirauda ◽  
Antonio Volpe Plantamura ◽  
Stefano Malavasi

This work analyzes the effects of the interaction between an oscillating sphere and free surface flows through the reconstruction of the flow field around the body and the analysis of the displacements. The experiments were performed in an open water channel, where the sphere had three different boundary conditions in respect to the flow, defined as h* (the ratio between the distance of the sphere upper surface from the free surface and the sphere diameter). A quasi-symmetric condition at h* = 2, with the sphere equally distant from the free surface and the channel bottom, and two conditions of asymmetric bounded flow, one with the sphere located at a distance of 0.003m from the bottom at h* = 3.97 and the other with the sphere close to the free surface at h* = 0, were considered. The sphere was free to move in two directions, streamwise (x) and transverse to the flow (y), and was characterized by values of mass ratio, m* = 1.34 (ratio between the system mass and the displaced fluid mass), and damping ratio, ζ = 0.004. The comparison between the results of the analyzed boundary conditions has shown the strong influence of the free surface on the evolution of the vortex structures downstream the obstacle.


1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (03) ◽  
pp. 192-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Bose ◽  
Peter S. K. Lai

Open-water experiments were done on a model of a cycloidal-type propeller with a trochoidal blade motion. This propeller had three blades with an aspect ratio of 10. These experiments included the measurement of thrust and torque of the propeller over a range of advance ratios. Tests were done for forward and reverse operation, and at zero speed (the bollard pull condition). Results from these tests are presented and compared with: a multiple stream-tube theoretical prediction of the performance of the propeller; and a prediction of the performance of a single blade of the propeller, oscillating in heave and pitch, using unsteady small-amplitude hydrofoil theory with corrections for finite amplitude motion, finite span, and frictional drag. At present, neither of these theories gives a completely accurate prediction of propeller performance over the whole range of advance ratios, but a combination of these approaches, with an allowance for dynamic stall of the blades, should lead to a reliable simple theory for overall performance prediction. Application of a propeller of this type to a small ship is discussed. The aim of the design is to produce a lightly loaded propeller with a high efficiency of propulsion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-167
Author(s):  
Seyyed Mostafa Seyyedi ◽  
Rouzbeh Shafaghat ◽  
Mohioddin Siavoshian

Abstract. Surface-piercing propellers have been widely used in light and high-speed vessels because of their superior performance. Experimental study of these propellers is one of the most reliable and accurate ways which can provide details about the performance and effect of different design parameters on the performance of the surface-piercing propellers. In this research, a five-blade surface-piercing propeller was tested in the free surface water tunnel of Babol Noshirvani University of Technology in order to expand the available experimental data and database for future engineering designs. The effects of immersion ratio and shaft inclination angle on the propeller's efficiency and hydrodynamic coefficients were examined. A free surface water tunnel and a calibrated dynamometer with the measurability of the thrust forces and the torque of a propeller were used for this purpose. Comparing the obtained results with the existing semi-experimental equations shows that the equations presented in various geometric conditions are not accurate enough, and developing the existing database is necessary. The details of the obtained results showed that the hydrodynamic coefficients of the thrust and torque increased by increasing the immersion ratio, but the coefficient of hydrodynamic thrust and efficiency reduced. The results also indicated that the coefficient of torque increased by increasing the shaft inclination angle. The highest efficiency of the propeller was achieved in the range of 40 %–50 % immersion ratios at all angles of shaft inclination. For all immersion ratios, the maximum and minimum efficiencies were obtained at 0 and 15 shaft inclination angles, respectively. The best efficiency of the propeller was at 50 % immersion ratio and zero shaft inclination angle.


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