Numerical analysis of surface piercing propeller in unsteady conditions and cupped effect on ventilation pattern of blade cross-section

The aim of this study is to calculate hydrodynamic performance and ventilation flow around wedge, 2D blade and 3D surface piercing propeller (SPP), using computational fluid dynamic based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes method. First, numerical analyses for two-phase fluid flow around the wedge and 2D blade section (cupped and non-cupped) are presented. Flow ventilation, pressure distribution and forces are determined and compared with experimental data. Then, the method is extended to predict the hydrodynamic performance of propeller SPP-841B. The propeller exhibits a cupped blade. In the simulated configuration, SPP is one-third submerged (I = h/D = 0.33) and is working at various loadings with full ventilation occurring at low advance coefficient (J). The open water performance, pressure distribution, forces/moments and ventilation pattern on the SPP-841B model are obtained and compared with experimental data. The numerical results are in good agreement with experimental measurements, especially at high advance coefficient.