A numerical study on hydrodynamic characteristics of a closed-loop propeller

In the current study, the thrust, torque, and hydrodynamics efficiency of a closed-loop propeller (Sharrowpropeller) in the open-water condition is numerically studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD).The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) with k-epsilon turbulence model (k-𝜀) and the MultipleReference Frame (MRF) approach, are employed in Star CCM software. To this accomplishment, thehydrodynamic behavior of a loop propeller under two different advance coefficients ۰.۸ and ۱.۲, and twovarious rotational speeds ۲۰ and ۷۰ rps compared to the Wageningen B-series propeller are studied. Basedon the CFD results, the Sharrow propeller shows a ۹.۹% improvement in the hydrodynamics efficiencycompared similar Wageningen B-series propeller at a rotational speed of ۷۰ rps and advance ratio equal۱.۲.

Keywords:

Hydrodynamic characteristics , Closed loop propeller , Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) , Star CCM