Numerical analysis of the effect of the blade number on the hydrodynamic performance of shaftless rim-driven thruster

In this work, numerical investigations were performed to the study the effect of blade number on the hydrodynamic performance of shaftless Rim-driven Thruster (RDT) with certain blade area ratio and pitch ratio. The work investigated and compared the thrust coefficient, torque coefficient and efficiency of the RDTs with different blade numbers. Additionally, this work detected and analyzed the pressure distribution on the blade surface and velocity distribution around the blade and in the wake. The results demonstrate that for a certain advance coefficient, the thrust coefficient and torque coefficient of the RDT increase with the blade number, however the efficiency of the RDT decreases with the increase of blade number. For the same cross-section and advance coefficient, the 7-blade RDT has higher thrust and torque than the 3-blade RDT due to the large friction and pressure difference between the suction and pressure surfaces. The high velocity of both RDTs appears at the junction between each blade and the duct, and the 7-blade RDT has higher velocity in the wake and in the cross-section than the 3-blade RDT. The 3-blade RDT has the high pressure at the leading edge on the suction surface of each blade. However, the 7-blade RDT has not only the high pressure at the leading edge, but also the high negative pressure at the blade root on the suction surface of each blade, so 7-blade RDT has higher torque that 3-blade RDT.