THEORETICAL METHOD OF THE OPTIMUM DESIGN OF A SUPERCAVITATING PROPELLER BLADE WITH SPOILER MOUNTED ON THE TRAILING EDGE

This paper presents theoretical design method to obtain 2-D optimum section with spoiler mounted on the trailing edge of a supercavitating propeller blade. Matched Asymptotic Expansions (MAE) is applied to determine the geometry of profile and cavity shape in the framework of potential flow theory. The blade section is of wedge-like shape and the opened cavity closure scheme is adopted. A typical section, on which the optimum blade design will be based, is singled out among the best individual sections from root to tip. The spoiler length of each hydrofoil section resulting from MAE method are finalized with CFD method so as to consider viscous effect under the same lift condition, others hydrofoil geometries being kept constant. The hydrodynamic performances of all blade sections being designed on the basis of the resulting typical section from linearized method are finally predicted with CFD method.

PROPELLER CAVITATION AND INDUCED VIBRATION

The demand to increase the efficiency of propellers has led to optimized propeller blade designs finding their way into the construction of high-powered commercial vessels, such as containers or LNG carriers and certain categories of passenger vessels, to mention but a few. It has become increasingly common to see the propeller tip rotate closer to the hull surface, sweeping the thick turbulent boundary layer attached to the hull, causing fluid structure interaction. At the same time, increasing the loading on marine propellers can lead to problems, such as noise, hull vibration, and cavitation. The degree above which, such phenomena as propeller cavitation can be the main perpetrators for intensive vibration during operation, their diagnosis and the solutions to mitigate this risk, such as the use of vortex generators, are discussed here, taking into account cost and longevity of the vessel as well as the involvement of classification rules.

Experimental Verification of the Elastic Response in a Numeric Model of a Composite Propeller Blade with Bend Twist Deformation

Adaptive composite propeller blades showing bend twist behaviour have received increasing interest from hydrodynamic and structural engineers. When exposed to periodic loading conditions, such propellers can be designed to have higher energy efficiency and emit less noise and vibration than conventional propellers. This work describes a method to produce an adaptive composite propeller blade and how a point load experiment can verify the predicted elastic response in the blade. A 600 mm-long hollow full-size blade was built and statically tested in the laboratory. Finite element modelling predicted a pitch angle change under operational load variable loads of 0.55°, a geometric change that notably compensates for the load cases. In the laboratory experiment, the blade was loaded at two points with increasing magnitude. The elastic response was measured with digital image correlation and strain gauges. Model predictions and experimental measurements showed the same deformation patterns, and the twist angle agreed within 0.01 degrees, demonstrating that such propellers can be successfully built and modelled by finite element analysis.

Numerical Study of Vortex Shedding behind a NACA 0009 Hydrofoil

This paper addresses the propeller singing mitigation strategy of implementing an anti-singing edge so that the vortex shedding mechanism causing the excitation at the trailing edge of the propeller blade can be reduced. A Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes model with a k-ε turbulence formulation in 2D-flow was used to investigate the problem numerically. Simulations on a NACA 0009 hydrofoil with varying inflow velocity, angle of attack, and bevel angle were done. The content in this paper is a summary of the work done by the author during his MSc Individual Project at University College London (Johannessen, MSc thesis, 2020).

Determining Actuator Requirements for Cyclic Varying Pitch Propeller for Ships

In marine applications, a cyclic varying pitch (CVP) propeller is a propeller in which the propeller blade can be cyclic-pitched. This cyclic pitching of the propeller blades is used to adapt to the local flow conditions in the non-uniform wake field that the propeller operates in, behind the ship hull. This has the potential to improve the performance of the propulsion system relative to a propeller which has fixed pitch for each revolution. The potential performance improvements include increasing the propulsion efficiency and reducing the cavitation, pressure pulses, vibrations and noise problems. However, the CVP propeller is not on the market today, and several challenges have to be addressed before the CVP propeller may be realized. One of these challenges is how to design the individual cyclic pitch mechanism for the propeller. However, before the cyclic pitch mechanism can be designed, it is necessary to know the requirements for it, such as the required pitching power and torque. The focus of the current paper is therefore to present a model for the propeller, by which it is possible to determine the loads acting on the CVP propeller blades during the cyclic pitching, and hence the actuator force/torque and power requirements. To illustrate the usefulness of the model, an example is presented, in which the loads on a CVP propeller are determined, together with the requirements for the individual cyclic pitch mechanism. The efficiency results presented are, however, not representative of the efficiency improvement that may be obtained, as neither the propeller nor the pitch trajectory has been optimised. The results do, however, serve to show the benefit and validity of the model.

Theoretical study into the aerodynamic imbalance of a propeller blade and the correcting masses to balance it

This paper reports the theoretically investigated aerodynamic imbalance of the propeller blade, as well as correcting masses for balancing it. It has been established that the aerodynamic forces acting on the propeller blade can be balanced by the adjustment of masses. This is also true for the case of compressed air (gas) provided that the blades are streamlined by laminar flow. That makes it possible to use rotor balancing methods to study the aerodynamic forces acting on the propeller blade. The rotating blade mainly generates torque aerodynamic imbalance due to a lift force. A much smaller static component of the aerodynamic imbalance is formed by the drag force acting on the blade. The correcting mass located in the propeller plane balances both static and torque components of the aerodynamic imbalance in its correction plane. A second correcting mass (for example, on the electric motor shank) balances the torque component of aerodynamic imbalance in its correction plane. The calculations are simplified under the assumption that the equilibrium of aerodynamic forces is perpendicular to the chord of the blade. For approximate calculations, one can use information about the approximate location of the pressure center. The aerodynamic forces acting on the blade can be determined on the basis of the correcting masses that balance them. The accuracy in determining the aerodynamic forces could be improved by measuring a lift force. The computational experiment has confirmed the theoretical results formulated above. The experiment further proves the possibility of applying the devised theory for propellers whose rotation speed changes with a change in the angles of blade installation. The findings reported here could be used both for devising methods of propeller balancing and for constructing methods to study the aerodynamic forces acting on the blade.

Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis of the Flow Around a Propeller Blade of Multirotor Unmanned Aerodynamic Vehicle

Multirotor Unmanned Aerodynamic Vehicles (MUAV) have been a high interest topic in the aerodynamic community for its many applications, such as, logistics, emergency rescue, agriculture data collection, and environmental sensing to name a few. MUAV propeller blades create a highly complex turbulent fluid flow around the body and the environment around it. The flow physics generated from the rotation of the propeller blades were studied in this paper along with the analysis of aerodynamic characteristics. A Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of a propellor blade from a MUAV has been performed to quantify the aerodynamic effects. For this purpose, the verification and validation of the commercially available CFD solver COMSOL Multiphysics v5.5 was performed using the NACA 0012 airfoil which is one of the most highly studied of the NACA family. With this validation it created confidence on the results for simulating a MUAV propeller and evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics of thrust coefficient (KT), power coefficient (KP), and Efficiency (η). These characteristics were compared against experimental data and results showed to have a similar trend. This showed that the CFD solver is capable of solving the aerodynamic characteristics of any propeller blade geometry.