Design and performance of an electric tip-driven thruster

A 250 mm diameter demonstrator electromagnetic tip-driven propeller (ETDP) unit has been designed, built and tested in a towing tank at zero, advance speed and for a range of advance speeds. The aims have been to assess the performance, efficiency and general practicalities of such a propeller for use on underwater vehicles. An overview is given of the general design philosophy and practical design issues of the demonstrator. The testing procedure is described and performance results are presented.