Research on the Performance of Pumpjet Propulsor of Different Scales

This study presents a numerical research on the open-water performance of a pumpjet propulsor at different scales. Simulations were performed by an in-house viscous CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) code. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) method with SST k-w turbulence model is employed. A dynamic overset grid is used to treat the relative motion between the rotor and other parts. The numerical results are compared with the model test data and they agree well. Comparisons for the open-water performance between the pumpjet propulsors with two scales are carried out. The results indicate that the total thrust coefficient of the large-scale pumpjet propulsor is greater than that of the small-scale one while the torque coefficient is smaller. Therefore, the efficiency of the large-scale pumpjet propulsor is about 8~10% higher than that of the small-scale pumpjet propulsor. The open-water performance of the rotor, pre-swirl stator and duct is obtained separately to estimate the discrepancies on the thrust and torque coefficients between different scales. To analyze the scale effect from different parts, the research on flow field and pressure distribution are carried out. The variation of total thrust and torque coefficient comes mainly from the rotor, which is caused by the flow field, influenced by the duct and stator.

Influence of Various Stator Parameters on the Open-Water Performance of Pump-Jet Propulsion

In order to improve the hydrodynamic performance of pump-jet propulsion (PJP) when matching stator with the rotor, the RANS method with SST k-ω turbulence model is employed to study the influence of six kinds of stator parameters, which are classified into three groups, i.e., stator solidity, stator angles and rotor–stator spacing (S). Results show that the stator solidity involves the blade number (Ns) and chord length (L), has an obvious acceleration effect at and after stator, and produces a higher thrust and torque with a slight efficiency change. Further comparing Ns and L results, we find greater distinctions between the two cases when stator solidity is greatly adjusted. Three stator angles, i.e., stagger angle (α), lean angle (γ), and sweep angle (β), are studied. The α has the biggest effect on the thrust, torque, and efficiency; meanwhile, it shifts the advance number that corresponds to maximum efficiency. The effect of γ is similar to α, but its influence is far less than α. However, there is little difference between various β cases except for off-design conditions, where the efficiency drops dramatically as β increases. The S has a slight effect on PJP performance. Even though S decreases 34% relative to the original PJP, the rotor thrust and torque increase by less than 1%. In addition, we compare torque balance locations under various parameters, and each component force is analyzed in detail to explain the reason for performance variation. The present work is conducive to future optimization in PJP design.

A CFD Research on the Effect of Pre-Swirl Stator Blades Number on a Pumpjet Propulsor

In this paper, effect of different pre-swirl stator number on open water performance of a pumpjet propulsor was studied. The pumpjet propulsor consists of shaft system, pre-swirl stator, rotor and duct. The numerical simulations were based on HUST-Ship, a series of inhouse codes, solving the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation. The computational region was discretized by structured grids and SST k-ω turbulence equations was discretized by finite difference method. The performances of rotor, pre-swirl stator and duct were monitored separately in order to understand the effect in the thrust and the torque. It was found that with the increase of the number of pre-swirl stator blades, the thrust produced by rotor blades increased. However, the number of pre-swirl stator blades influences the thrust of stator, and may have negative effect on the total thrust. In the meantime, thrust of duct also has a little increase. With the increase of the number of pre-swirl stator blades, the propulsion efficiency increases first and then decreases.

Numerical Investigation on Hydrodynamic Performance of a Ducted Propeller for Vectored Underwater Robot

This paper investigated hydrodynamic performance of the Ka4-70+No.19A ducted propeller astern of a vectored underwater robot at diverse deflection angles. Employing SST k-ω turbulence model combined with moving reference frame technique, numerical computation of the ducted propeller in a fully developed turbulence behind hull was carried out. The validity of the model was verified by comparing the numerical results of open water performance and the experimental values. The hydrodynamic performance of the ducted propeller was worked out and discussed in detail. The wake flow and thrust deduction fraction corresponding to different deflection angles were analyzed. Results show that the ducted propeller generates more thrust and requires more torque at lager deflection angle. In addition, the thrust deduction fraction increases with the increase of the deflection angle.

Numerical Analysis of Blade Stress of Marine Propellers

In this study, a series of numerical calculations are carried out in ANSYS Workbench based on the unidirectional fluid–solid coupling theory. Using the DTMB 4119 propeller as the research object, a numerical simulation is set up to analyze the open water performance of the propeller, and the equivalent stress distribution of the propeller acting in the flow field and the axial strain of the blade are analyzed. The results show that FLUENT calculations can provide accurate and reliable calculations of the hydrodynamic load for the propeller structure. The maximum equivalent stress was observed in the blade near the hub, and the tip position of the blade had the largest stress. With the increase in speed, the stress and deformation showed a decreasing trend.

Cavitation Performance of Low Speed Ice-Classed Propeller

In the ice breaking condition, on account of the low speed and heavy propeller load, the ship resistance is large, which will aggravate the propeller cavitation and the propeller-induced pressure. In this paper, the cavitation performance of the ice-classed propeller is analyzed by numerical simulation and model experiment. Commercial CFD software was used for the numerical simulations, in which the cavitation flow is solved by Schneer & Sauer cavitaiton model based on a single-fluid multiphase mixture flow approach. Model tests to measure cavitation flow on an ice-classed propeller were carried out in SSSRI K15 Cavitation Tunnel. The size of the test section of SSSRI K15 Cavitation Tunnel is 600mm*600mm. The propeller performances in uniform flow over a range of advance coefficients were carried out in open water test in a towing tank. The diameter (D) of the model propeller was 248mm in this research. Firstly, the open water performance of propeller is numerically studied. Near the design conditions, the numerical results are almost consistent with the test results, with an error of less than 1%. In the case of ice breaking, the blocking effect of ice in front of a propeller is studied. The experiment results show that with the ice block close to the propeller, one or more vortex tube structures are generated between the propeller blade and the ship bottom while the vortex cavitation occurs. Such phenomenon is also found between the propeller and the ice block. When the blocking effect is significant, the stable vortex tube structure will appear and significantly change the cavity shape near the blade. When the distance between the ice and the blade disc exceeds 0.72D, the vortex tube structure will disappear.