Numerical Analysis of the High Skew Propeller of an Underwater Vehicle

A numerical analysis based on the boundary element method （BEM） was presented for the hydrodynamic performance of a high skew propeller （HSP） which is employed by an underwater vehicle （UV）. Since UVs operate at two different working conditions （surface and submerged conditions）, the design of such a propeller is a cumbersome task. This is primarily due to the fact that the resistance forces as well as the vessel efficiency under these conditions are significantly different. Therefbre, some factors are necessary for the design of the optimum propeller to utilize the power at the mentioned conditions. The design objectives of the optimum propeller are to obtain the highest possible thrust, minimum torque, and efficiency. In the current study, a 5-bladed HSP was chosen for running the UV. This propeller operated at the stern of the UV hull where the inflow velocity to the propeller was non-uniform. Some parameters of the propeller were predicted based on the UV geometrical hull and operating conditions. The computed results include the pressure distribution and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the HSP in open water conditions, and comparison of these results with those of the experimental data indicates good agreement. The propeller efficiency for both submerged and surface conditions was found to be 67% and 64%, respectively, which compared to conventional propellers is a significantly higher efficiency.

Hydrodynamic Efficiency Improvement of the High Skew Propeller for the Underwater Vehicle Under Surface and Submerged Conditions

An algorithm based on the Boundary Element Method(BEM)is presented for designing the High Skew Propeller(HSP)used in an Underwater Vehicle(UV).Since UVs operate under two different kinds of working conditions(i.e.surface and submerged conditions),the design of such a propeller is an unwieldy task.This is mainly due to the fact that the resistance forces as well as the vessel efficiency under these conditions are significantly different.Therefore,some factors are necessary for the design of the opti-mum propeller to utilize the power under the mentioned conditions.The design objectives of the optimum propeller are to obtain the highest possible thrust and efficiency with the minimum torque.For the current UV,the main dimensions of the propeller are pre-dicted based on the given required thrust and the defined operating conditions.These dimensions(number of blades,pitch,diameter,expanded area ratio,thickness and camber)are determined through iterative procedure.Because the propeller operates at the stern of the UV where the inflow velocity to the propeller is non-uniform,a 5-blade HSP is preferred for running the UV.Finally,the propel-ler is designed based on the numerical calculations to acquire the improved hydrodynamic efficiency.

Scale effects on non-cavitation hydrodynamics and noise of highly-skewed propeller in wake flow

Regarding the scale effects on propeller＇s noncavitation hydrodynamics and hydroacoustics, three similar 7bladed highly-skewed propellers in the wake flow are addressed with diameters of 250, 500 and 1 000 mm, respectively. The discrete line-spectrum noise and its standardized spectrum level scaling law, together with the total sound pressure level are analyzed. The non-cavitation noise predictions are completed by both the frequency domain method and the time domain method. As a fluctuated noise source, the time-dependent fluctuated pressure and normal velocity distribution on propeller blades are obtained by the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes （ URANS ） simulation. Results show that the pressure coefficient distribution of three propellers on the 0.7R section is nearly superposed under the same advance ratio. The periodic thrust fluctuation of three propellers can exactly reflect the tonal components of the axial passing frequency （APF） and the blade passing frequency （BPF）, and the fluctuation enhancement from the small to the middle propeller at the BPF is greater than that from the middle to the big one. By the two noise prediction methods, the increment of the total sound pressure level from the small to the big propeller differs by 2.49 dB. Following the standardized scaling law, the spectrum curves of the middle and big propellers are nearly the same while significantly differing from the small one. The increment of both the line-spectrum level and the total sound pressure increases with the increase in diameter. It is suggested that the model scale of the propeller should be as large as possible in engineering to reduce the prediction error of the empirical scalin~ law and weaken the scale effects.