On the Selection of Optimal Propeller Diameter for a 120-m Cargo Vessel
Journal article, 2021

In the preliminary design of a propulsion unit, the selection of propeller diameter is most commonly based on open water tests of systematic propeller series. The optimum diameter obtained from the propeller series data is, however, not considered to be representative for the operating conditions behind the ship, instead a slightly smaller diameter is often selected. We have used computational fluid dynamics to study a 120-m cargo vessel with an integrated rudder bulb–propeller hubcap system and a four-bladed propeller series, to increase our understanding of the hydrodynamic effects influencing the optimum. The results indicate that a 3–4% smaller diameter is optimal in behind conditions in relation to open water conditions at the same scale factor. The reason is that smaller, higher loaded propellers perform better together with a rudder system. This requires that the gain in transverse kinetic energy losses thanks to the rudder overcomes the increase in viscous losses in the complete propulsion system.

hydrodynamics (propulsors)

rudder

propeller

propeller–hull interaction

wake

CFD

Author

Jennie Andersson

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Marine Technology

Robert Gustafsson

Kongsberg Hydrodynamic Research Centre

Arash Eslamdoost

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Marine Technology

Rickard Bensow

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Marine Technology

Journal of Ship Research

0022-4502 (ISSN) 15420604 (eISSN)

Vol. 65 2 153-166

Analysis and optimisation of marine propulsion systems

Swedish Energy Agency (38849-1), 2014-10-06 -- 2017-09-30.

Rolls-Royce (Swe), 2014-10-06 -- 2017-09-30.

Analysis and optimisation of marine propulsion systems - part 2

Kongsberg Hydrodynamic Research Centre, 2019-01-01 -- 2021-06-30.

Swedish Energy Agency (38849-2), 2019-01-01 -- 2021-06-30.

Areas of Advance

Transport

Subject Categories

Energy Engineering

Marine Engineering

Infrastructure

C3SE (Chalmers Centre for Computational Science and Engineering)

DOI

10.5957/JOSR.12180120

More information

Latest update

10/28/2021