Design system for optimum contra-rotating propellers

A new type of contrarotating propeller (CRP) system has been developed through the cooperative research work of five shipbuilding companies in Japan (Hitachi Zosen Corporation; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.; Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.; NKK Corporation; and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.). This paper describes a design system for an optimum CRP, which is one of the numerous outcomes of this work. The optimum design system is composed of three theoretical programs: (1) the design program of the optimum CRP; (2) the steady lifting surface program of the CRP; (3) the unsteady lifting surface program of the CRP. These theoretical programs will be discussed in the first part of the paper, and the design system supported by these theoretical programs will then be verified by comparing calculated and experimental results.Translation of an article that appeared in the Journal of The Society of Naval Architects of Japan, vol. 180 (1996): The original article won the SNAJ prize, which is awarded annually to the best papers selected from the SNAJ Journal, JMST, or other quality journals in the field of naval architecture and ocean engineering.     

Stern waves consisting of forward-oriented breaking waves and the remaining following waves

When a ship with a wide, immersed transom stern runs on a deep draft, forward-oriented wave breaking often occurs just behind the transom stern. In such conditions, stern waves can be considered to consist of two main components: the forward-oriented breaking wave and the remaining following waves. In our previous study, which was the first part of the present study, we developed a method to treat the forward-oriented breaking wave, and have clarified that it has a scale effect and its resistance coefficient decreases with an increase in the size of the model ship. On the other hand, the study also indicated that the height of the remaining following waves increases with an increase in the model ship size. The purpose of this paper is a more complete understanding of the two different component characteristics of the stern waves. We have developed a method to estimate the resistance due to the remaining following waves. Using this method, we have reached three main conclusions. The resistance increases considerably if the remaining following waves change to forward-oriented breaking waves. The resistance coefficient of the remaining following waves increases only slightly with an increase in model ship size. This stern wave resistance coefficient is strongly affected by the forward-oriented breaking waves, and therefore decreases with an increase in model ship size. Received: January 5, 2001 / Accepted: May 28, 2001