Numerical Study on the Performance Analysis and Vibration Characteristics of Flexible Marine Propeller

Abstract This paper addresses the hydro-elastic performance of two composite marine propellers at operating condition and compares the results with conventional materials. The study involves three stages namely, design and development of a B series propeller, hydrodynamic and structural performance analysis in uniform flow and free vibration test both in dry and wet condition. In order to perform the hydro-elastic based fluid structure interaction (FSI), Co-Simulation method was adopted to couple Reynolds Averaged Navier-Strokes Equation (RANSE) based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver and finite element method (FEM) solvers. The open water characteristics such as thrust coefficient (KT), torque coefficient (KQ), and open water efficiency (ηO) were analyzed as a function of advance velocity (J) of the propeller. A detailed study of the various blade materials by varying mechanical properties are presented. The results obtained show the variation of stress and deflection on the blade, along with the influence of the blade deformation on the performance of propeller. The vibration behaviour of the propellers were also analysed by Block-Lanczos method in FEM solver to obtain the natural frequencies and the mode shapes using Acoustic Fluid-Structure Coupling method for both dry and wet condition. Results showed that composite propeller have better hydro-dynamic property and lower vibration than metal propeller.