Using the surface panel method to predict the steady performance of ducted propellers

A new numerical method was developed for predicting the steady hydrodynamic performance of ducted propellers. A potential based surface panel method was applied both to the duct and the propeller, and the interaction between them was solved by an induced velocity potential iterative method. Compared with the induced velocity iterative method, the method presented can save programming and calculating time. Numerical results for a JD simplified ducted propeller series showed that the method presented is effective for predicting the steady hydrodynamic performance of ducted propellers.

Prediction of Hydrodynamic Performance of Marine Propellers by Surface Panel Method

The potential based low order surface panel method is used to predict the hydrodynamic performance of marine propellers. In present method the hyperboloidal quadrilateral panels are employed to avoid the gap between the panels. The influence coefficients of panels are calculated by Morino’s analytical formulations for increasing numerically calculating speed. The pressure Kutta condition is satisfied on the trailing edge of propeller blade by Newton-Raphson iterative procedure. Therefore the pressure coefficients of the suction and pressure faces of blade are equal on trailing edge. The method developed by Yanagizawa is used to determine the velocities on propeller surface, and to avoid the singularity in the numerical differentiation. The predicted pressure distributions and open water performances of general propellers and highly skewed propellers have a good agreement with experimental dat and other calculation results.

PREDICTION OF PODDED PROPELLER CAVITATION USING AN UNSTEADY SURFACE PANEL METHOD

The unsteady sheet cavitation of podded propeller was predicted by using a surface panel method. The interaction between propeller and pod was treated with the iterative calculation of induced velocity potential, and the method of induced velocity potential can save a great deal of storage and computation time compared to the method of induced velocity. The induced velocity potential of unit singularity on every pod panel to every key blade panel and of unit singularity on every key blade panel and its wake panel to every pod panel were calculated when the key blade is at every angle position. Based on the wake model of the conventional single propeller, a new wake model of podded propeller was constructed. The propeller is analyzed only on the key blade in order to save computation time and memory space. The method can be used to calculate the hydrodynamics performance and cavitation of propeller in uniform and non-uniform inflows. It can give the unsteady force and cavitation shape of propeller. The propeller cavitation range determined by the present method agrees with the observation results of cavity image given in cavitation tunnel well, and this proves the practicability of the method.

Integrated lifting line/surface panel method for optimal propeller design with consideration of hub effect

An optimal marine propeller design method is proposed,which integrates the lifting line and surface panel method and is characterized by the use of the surface panel method to take the hub effect into consideration.By developing an integrated approach instead of an iterative method for the calculation of the interaction between the hub and the designed blades,the hub effects on the optimal circulation can be accounted for throughout the theoretical design procedure.This new integrated method provides a fast and accurate enough method to model the straight forward hub surface,in the optimal propeller design.A systematic design procedure from the basic design inputs to the blade geometry determination is performed and the designed propellers are validated by the surface panel method and the RANS method.The design and analysis cases are considered by different approaches with comparison and validation.And a comparative study including different hub geometries is also performed to reveal the mechanism of the hub effect on the distributions of the propeller optimal loads.

A method for numerical calculation of propeller hydrodynamics in unsteady inflow

The hydrodynamic performance of a propeller in unsteady inflow was calculated using the surface panel method. The surfaces of blades and hub were discreted by a number of hyperboloidal quadrilateral panels with constant source and doublet distribution. Each panel＇s comer coordinates were calculated by spline interpolation between the main parameter and the blade geometry of the propeller. The integral equation was derived using the Green Formula. The influence coefficient of the matrix was calculated by the Morino analytic formula. The tangential velocity distribution was calculated with the Yanagizawa method, and the pressure coefficient was calculated using the Bonuli equation. The pressure Kutta condition was satisfied at the trailing edge of the propeller blade using the Newton-Raphson iterative procedure, so as to make the pressure coefficients of the suction and pressure faces of the blade equal at the trailing edge. Calculated results for the propeller in steady inflow were taken as initialization values for the unsteady inflow calculation process. Calculations were carried out from the moment the propeller achieved steady rotation. At each time interval, a linear algebraic equation combined with Kutta condition was established on a key blade and solved numerically. Comparison between calculated results and experimental results indicates that this method is correct and effective.

PREDICTION OF UNSTEADY CAVITATION OF PROPELLER USING SURFACE PANEL METHOD

This paper has predicted the range and volume of unsteady sheet cavitation of a propeller by using the surface panel method. The linearization in cavity thickness is adopted to reduce the computing time and storage space. The iteration scheme between chordwise strips has been used because the range and volume of cavitation are both unknown. The propeller cavitation range determined by the calculation method presented in this paper agrees with the observation results of cavity image at cavitation tunnel very well, and this proves the practicability of the method.

Prediction of Non-Cavitation Propeller Noise in Time Domain

The blade frequency noise of non-cavitation propeller in a uniform flow is analyzed in time domain. The unsteady loading （dipole source） on the blade surface is calculated by a potential-based surface panel method. Then the time- dependent pressure data is used as the input for Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings formulation to predict the acoustics pressure. The integration of noise source is performed over the true blade surface rather than the nothickness blade surface, and the effect of hub can be considered. The noise characteristics of the non-cavitation propeller and the numerical discretization forms are discussed.

An integral panel method for the hydrodynamic analysis of hybrid contra-rotating shaft pod propulsors

The present work is devoted to developing an efficient method for the analysis and design of hybrid contra-rotating shaft pod(HCRSP)propulsors.The geometry of contra-rotating propulsor(CRP)was then analyzed,and a steady integral panel method that treats the forward and aft propellers as a whole part is presented.During the study,the control equation of the steady integral panel method for CRP is derived in detail.From the experience of developing an integral panel method for CRP,the characteristics of panel singularity strength in HCRSP propulsor was analyzed.Based on this analysis,an integral panel method for HCRSP propulsor is developed and the wake model discussed.Then,the method is applied in the performance analysis of HCRSP propulsor.Comparison between experimental data and numerical results shows that the steady integral panel method has good accuracy in terms of open water performance.Regarding the latter,the error source in the steady integral panel method is discussed.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF WAVE RESISTANCE OF TRIMARANS BY NONLINEAR WAVE MAKING THEORY WITH SINKING AND TRIM BEING TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT

Up to now, there are no satisfactory numerical methods for simulating wave resistance of trimarans, mainly due to the difficulty related with the strong nonlinear features of the piece hull wave making and their interference. This article proposes a numerical method for quick and effective calculation of wave resistance of trimarans to be used in engineering applications. Based on Wyatt＇s work, the nonlinear free surface boundary condition, the time domain concept, and the full nonlinear wave making theory, using the Rankine source Green function, the 3-D surface panel method is expanded to solve the trimaran wave making problems, with high order nonlinear factors being taken into account, such as the influence of the sinking and trim, transom, and ship wave immersed hull surface. And the software is successfully developed to implement the method, which is validated. Several trimaran models, including a practical trimaran with a sonar dome and the transom, are used as numerical calculation samples, their wave making resistance is calculated both by the present method and some other methods such as linear （Dawson） methods. Moreover, sample model resistance tests were carried out to provide data for comparison, validation and analysis. Through the validation by model experiments, it is concluded that present method can well predict the wave making resistance, sinking and trim, and the accuracy of wave making resistance calculation is significantly improved by taking the trim and sinking into account, especially at high speeds.

NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF BLADE FREQUENCY NOISE OF CAVITATING PROPELLER

The blade frequency noise of a cavitating propeller in a uniform flow is analyzed in the time domain. The unsteady loading （of a dipole source） and the sheet cavity volume （of a monopole source） on the propeller surface are calculated by a potential-based surface panel method. Then the time-dependent pressure and the cavity volume data are used as the input for the Fowcs Williams-Hawkings formulation to predict the acoustics pressure. The integration of the noise source is performed over the true blade surface rather than the ideal blade surface without thickness. The noise characteristics of the cavitating propeller are discussed. With the sheet cavitation, the thickness （cavitation） noise is larger than the loading noise and is the dominant noise source. The noise directivity is not as clear as that of the noise under a non-cavitation condition. The cavitation noise is attenuated more slowly than the non-cavitation noise.