Effect of Structural Deformation on Performance of Marine Propeller

Abstract

Propeller geometry is very crucial for its performance and a little deviation in shape can cause changes in its hydrodynamic performance. Hydrodynamic loading causes deformation to the propeller blades, which leads to change in shape. Effect of this change of shape on hydrodynamic performance of a propeller is being studied in the present paper. A five bladed bronze propeller is chosen for the analysis. Its open water efficiency was estimated for original and deformed shape. Pressure based RANS equation was solved for steady, incompressible, turbulent flow through the propeller. Numerical solution was obtained using Finite Volume Method within Ansys Fluent software. FEM based solver of ANSYS Mechanical APDL was used to make the structural calculations. Fluid-structure interaction was incorporated in an iterative manner. The study however shows very little change in its hydrodynamic performance due to the deformation of propeller blades.