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An investigation of load change of propeller in a four-propulsion vessel using CFD

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Abstract

In this paper, an attempt has been made to investigate the effects of propeller load changes against its performance in open water conditions. Load change of different propellers in a multi-propulsion vessel varies and there is scarce research in this area. The authors have made an endeavor to get a better understanding of the factors causing the load changes in a four-propulsion vessel. The load change of propeller has been linearly decomposed into three parts: ship hull influence, pure interference of other propeller, and coupled effect. A series of CFD simulations has been carried out to realize the decomposition of the load change of propeller. Simulations of single propeller in open water were used to obtain the basis for load change calculation. Simulations of self-propulsion with four propellers were used to obtain the total load change of propellers. To estimate the influence of ship hull, simulations of self-propulsion with only inner or outer propellers were carried out and the load change of propeller in this condition was evaluated. Simulations of four propellers in open water were used to determine the pure interference on one by the other three propellers. The existence of coupled effect appears as the sum of ship hull influence and pure interference does not equate to the total load change of self-propulsion with four propellers. The coupled effect arises, because the interference of other propellers is influenced by the wake. It is found that the influence of ship hull accounts for most significant amount of 75.38% for inner propeller and 45.38% for outer propeller. It has been determined that pure interference accounts for about 10% for both inner and outer propellers. The coupled effect accounts 15.36% for inner propellers and 45.8% for outer propellers.

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Abbreviations

\( C_{\text{G}} \) :

Correction factor for grid

\( D_{\text{p}} \) :

Diameter of propeller

D :

Experimental data

E :

Comparison error

\( E_{\text{C}} \) :

Corrected comparison error

\( {\text{IF}}_{ij} \) :

Proportion of each component, subscript i represents four types of load change including T (total load change), S (ship hull influence), P (pure interference of other propellers), and C (coupled effect); subscript j represents inner (I) and outer propeller (O)

\( J \) :

Advance ratio

K T :

Thrust coefficient of propeller

10K Q :

Torque coefficient of propeller

\( {\text{LC}} \) :

Difference of K T between multiple-propeller case and single propeller in open water

\( {\text{LC}}_{ij} \) :

Load change of propeller, subscript i represents four types of load change including T (total load change), S (ship hull influence), P (pure interference of other propellers), and C (coupled effect); subscript j represents inner (I) and outer propeller (O)

\( P_{\text{G}} \) :

Order of accuracy

R G :

Convergence ratio

S C :

Corrected simulation value

S G1 :

Simulation value of grid 1

U D :

Experimental data uncertainty

U G :

Grid uncertainty

U GC :

Corrected grid uncertainty

U SN :

Simulation numerical uncertainty

U V :

Validation uncertainty

w :

Wake fraction

x :

x-coordinate

y :

y-coordinate

z :

z-coordinate

\( \delta^{*} \) :

Estimate of simulation error

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51639003, 51679037, 51279030) and High-Tech Ship Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Shipbuilding Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Zhi Zong & Zhichao Hong

  2. Institute of Fluid Physics, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, China

    Hao Zhang

  3. Department of Ocean Engineering and Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA

    Prasanta K. Sahoo

Authors
  1. Zhi Zong
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  2. Zhichao Hong
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  3. Hao Zhang
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  4. Prasanta K. Sahoo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhichao Hong.

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Zong, Z., Hong, Z., Zhang, H. et al. An investigation of load change of propeller in a four-propulsion vessel using CFD. J Mar Sci Technol 23, 122–131 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-017-0460-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-017-0460-z

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