COMPUTATIONAL PREDICTION OF A PROPELLER PERFORMANCE IN OPEN WATER CONDITION

Ahmad Fitriadhy (Programme of Maritime Technology, Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu)
N. Amira Adam (Programme of Maritime Technology, Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu)
CJ. Quah (CEO Numit Enterprise)

Sinergi
Vol 24, No 2 (2020)

In presence of hydrodynamics phenomena occur surrounding propeller evidently affects on accuracy’s prediction of thrust, torque and its efficiency. To achieve the objective, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations approach is then proposed to obtain a reliable prediction of the thrust (KT), torque (KQ) and efficiency (η) coefficients in open water condition. The effect of various blade numbers associated with constant propeller revolution (RPM=1320) and pitch ratio (P/D=1.0); are performed within the range of advance ratio from 0.1J1.0. The results revealed that the increase of blade number from Z=3 to 5 was proportional with the increase of thrust (KT) and torque (KQ) coefficients; meanwhile, it was reduced the maximum efficiency (η) that possibly lead to downgrade the propeller performance. It should be noted here, the propeller with three blade numbers (Z=3) provide the highest efficiency (η) up to 78.8% at J=0.9. These CFD simulation results are very useful as a preliminary study of propeller characteristics.