Propellers and

propulsion
MEC E2001 - Ship Hydrodynamics

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Summary on Propeller cavitation

• List and describe types of cavitation

• How do you take into account the cavitation in the design of the
propeller?

• How does the cavitation affect the performance of the propeller?

• What are the secondary effects of the cavitation?

• How can you evaluate the cavitation?

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Content of the course
• Resistance
• Propulsion
• Introduction, Momentum theory on propeller action
• Screw propeller
• Propeller-hull interaction
• Early design of a propeller
• Propeller – main engine interaction
• Stopping, accelerating and backing properties
• Propeller cavitation All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers
• Special types of propulsors
• Afterbody form of a ship

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Special types of propulsors

Additional reading
• Matusiak J (2010) Laivan propulsio. M-176. Chapter 9
• Matusiak J (2008) Short introduction to Ship Resistance and
Propulsion. Section 3.11

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics Aalto University 4

Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle Most common
special propulsor
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 5

Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

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Super cavitating propellers
Cavitation covers entire suction side of a blade.
• Length of sheet cavitation is kept larger than the hydrofoil length.
• It’s volume changes are kept moderate.
• Lift is generated as a difference of pressure side pressure and the
vapour pressure

How to stimulate cavitation?

• Propeller diameter:
relatively small
• Pitch: low
• Revolutions: high
• Shape of hydrofoil: wedge

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Super cavitating propellers
On the operation of supercavitating propellers

• Efficiency is relatively low

• If possible a normal
propeller is preferred
• Operates properly for a
design condition
• Running astern: poor quality
• Generates high frequency
noise

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Super cavitating propellers
Surface piercing propellers
• Low immersion and high load may yield
propeller ventillation
• Normal propeller: this results in thrust breakdown
and high revolutions.
• Wedge-shaped hydrofoil with a sharp leading
edge: not so bad thrust (KT/J2 0.5)
• Advantage
• Absence of resistance of shaft and brackets
• Disadvantage:
• Poor efficiency for off-design operation
• Unsteady thrust and torque

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Super cavitating propellers
Further curiosity on supercavitation?
• Google e.g. Shkval torpedo
• This figure: scmp.com
• The gas works to stimulate
and control cavitation

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Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle Most common
special propulsor
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 11

Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
Consist of
• FPP or CPP
• Axially symmetric nozzle around
the propeller

Function of the nozzle

• Changes the inflow to propeller
• Generates thrust

Options
• Flow accelerating duct
• Flow decelelerating ducts

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Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
Flow accelerating duct
• When good bollard pull qualities
are important
• Low advance number J: thrust
and efficiency increase
• At high J: Total thrust of the
propeller decreases

Flow decelelerating ducts

• Fast naval vessels
• Improve cavitation qualities
• Decrease efficiency
In the following slides, we will refer
Aalto University 01/12/2016 only to Flow accelerating ducts
Ship Hydrodynamics 13
Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
Fixed and steerable ducts

Act as a rudder

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Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
On the geometry of the duct

• Length
• (0.5... 0.7)•D.
• The more loaded the propeller is, the longer the nozzle need to be.
• Diameter: ~1.2 times the propeller diameter D
• Tip clearance (distance form propeller tip to nozzle surface)
• As small as possible
• Typical value is 0.005•D.
• Wageningen 19A nozzle type is used frequently

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Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle

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 Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
Effect of the nozzle on the performance of the propeller
Nozzle accelerates the flow and
generate thrust itself, KTn
• The advance number J of the propeller
grows at the propeller disk
• Total thrust T (sum of the propeller
thrust and nozzle thrust) decreases for
high advance number.
• Efficiency increases as the loading
of the propeller decreases.

Nozzle decreases flow losses at blade tip

• Thrust and torque increase in
comparison to open propeller.

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Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
On the action of the nozzle

• Ahead of propeller plane, there is a region of low pressure.

• As a result the nozzle produces lift and drag (dLn &dDn).
• The x-directional component dTn of the resultant force dL is a thrust
element produced by a nozzle
• Nozzle thrust Tn is a sum of these

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Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
On the action of the nozzle
When the advance velocity VA increases
• Advance number J increases
• Angle of attack decreases
• This reduces nozzle thrust Tn.
For large J
• gets negative
• Thrust Tn becomes negative as well

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Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
Open water characteristics of ducted propellers

Low advance velocity VA and low J

• Torque curve is quite flat.
• This means that ducted propeller is
capable to absorb efficiently engine
power at low speeds.

Bollard pull condition

• Ducted propeler may deliver 60% more thrust than the conventional
propeller.
• Nozzle smoothens the flow and protects propeller.

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Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
Disadvantage
• Cavitation at tip may be stronger than in the open propeller.
• Running astern may be difficult.
• Steerable nozzle and rounding the trailing edge improves the situation
• Exchanging a propeller may be difficult
• More expensive

Design
• Preliminary design utilizes systematic model test series

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Ducted propeller / Propeller in nozzle
Ducts and semi-tunnels
Improving the quality of the “bad” wake
• In particular, full hull forms with serious flow separation above and in front of
the propeller.
• Partial nozzle (segment) or tunnel directs and accelerates the flow.

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Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

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Rotatable thrusters

Nozzle Strut

Pod

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Rotatable thrusters

Freedom-class ship

Fixed

Rotatable
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Rotatable thrusters
On the power demand: less appendages

• No need for the propeller shaft,

rudder, supporting structures.
• These have a significant
contribution to the resistance
• Typical multi-screw vessel:
The resistance of appendages
is 5-15% of total resistance.

• No need for transversal tunnel thrusters at stern

if rotatable thrusters are used.
• Operating at low speeds requires often transverse thrusters
• Thruster tunnels involve extra resistance

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Rotatable thrusters
On the power demand: inflow to propeller

• Rotatable thruster can be tilted to meet

the oncoming inflow at an optimal angle
• The propeller plane is normally oriented to the
oncoming flow.
• This results in a better propulsive efficiency.
• Cavitation characteristics improve.

The above-mentioned benefits on the power demand apply for multi-

screw vessels.

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Rotatable thrusters
Vibration and noise
Twin-screw vessel
• Shaft and its supports are the main reason for the propeller-induced vibration and
noise
• Non-homogeneous wake which results in cavitation

Pulling pod
• Flow is decelerated only due to the hull
• This is quite small usually and does not cause problems
on cavitation and vibration.

Pushing pod
• Works in worse inflow
• may cause some problems

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Rotatable thrusters
Which is better: pulling or pushing version?

• Well designed pulling unit is better than

a pushing version
• The difference is more pronounced with speed

• Pushing version may be better for a not so well

streamlined shape of a pod
• Propeller accelerates the flow and prevents separation
• Beneficial to have a pushing for a blunt form pod

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Rotatable thrusters
On the manoeuvring

• Manoeuvring and control of ship equipped with rotatable thrusters is

much better than that of a conventional one
• There may be problems with directional stability if ship is not equipped
with a skeg at stern

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Rotatable thrusters
Design of the hull form when using rotatable thrusters

• No need for long shaft lines, no rudder

• Take into account the volume of the pod

• Much larger than that of a traditional propulsion system
• Locates within a short longitudinal distance
• Generates an own wave system

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Rotatable thrusters
Interaction of the wave systems of the pod and of the hull affects
the propulsive efficiency

Positive effect
• The pod-induced waves smoothens the wave troughs of the waves generated by the
hull and makes the stern wave higher.

Negative effect
• Steeper wave troughs, stern wave rise to transom and breaks.
• Consequences: larger resistance, additional loading of the propellers and decreased
efficiency
• Solutions:
• More streamlined pod (larger length / breadth ratio)
• The volume of the pod can be compensated by decreasing the volume of the hull at the location of the
pod. (E.g. so-called “half-tunnel stern” whose location shape and volume depend on the ship speed,
depth of the propulsor device, loading of the propulsor)

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Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 33

Steering thrusters
Improve manoeuvring qualities of ship at low speeds
• At bow
• Sometimes also art stern
Propeller operates
• in cylindrical tunnels located transversally to ship centre plane
• as an axial pump

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Steering thrusters
Thrust
Components
1. Thrust of the propeller
2. Side force created by hull-thruster interaction
• result of flow acceleration at hull in the vicinity of tunnel
• 35% ... 40% of total thrusting force
• Decreases with ship’s speed

Estimation
• FPP: k 1.08 and CPP: k 0.97
• PD in kW and propeller diameter D in metres.

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Steering thrusters

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Steering thrusters

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Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 38

Contra rotating propellers
CRP

loading

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Contra rotating propellers

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 40

Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 41

Hybrid propulsion
• CRP concept

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Hybrid propulsion
• Utilises at least two different propulsion concepts
• For instance, single water-jet and screw propellers

• An interesting concept: a normal propeller arrangement

combined with a pod propulsor
• Pod compensates for a rudder
• The good features of pod-propulsion and that of CRP are combined
• Good propulsion features
• Good maneuvering qualities

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 43

Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 44

Grim’s vane wheel
Combination of
• normal screw propeller and
• turbine located aft of it

Turbine
• Diameter approx. 20% higher than
that of the propeller.
• Several blades (7 to 9)
• Middle part of each blade works as
a turbine
• Tip generates a positive thrust
similarly as propeller.

Efficiency gain is 5%...15%

• Rotational speed of a turbine:
50%...65% lower than that of the
propeller.

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Outline: Special types of propulsors
All propulsors that are not
open marine screw propellers

• Supercavitating propellers
• Ducted propellers / Propeller in a nozzle
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Contra rotating propellers
• Hybrid propulsion
• Grim’s vane wheel
• Water jet propulsion

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 46

Water jet propulsion

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 47

Water jet propulsion

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Water jet propulsion

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Water jet propulsion

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Water jet propulsion

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Water jet propulsion

hj=0

(i.e. k=0)

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Water jet propulsion

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Water jet propulsion

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Water jet propulsion

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Water jet propulsion

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Content of the course
• Resistance
• Propulsion
• Introduction, Momentum theory on propeller action
• Screw propeller
• Propeller-hull interaction
• Early design of a propeller
• Propeller – main engine interaction
• Stopping, accelerating and backing properties
• Propeller cavitation
• Special types of propulsors
• Afterbody form of a ship

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 57

Special types of propulsors

Additional reading
• Matusiak J (2010) Laivan propulsio. M-176. Chapter 10
• Matusiak J (2008) Short introduction to Ship Resistance and
Propulsion. Something in Section 2.6

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Afterbody form of a ship

• Single screw ships

• Twin screw ships

• Supports of propeller shaft

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Afterbody form of a ship

• Single screw ships

• Twin screw ships

• Supports of propeller shaft

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Afterbody form of a ship

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 61

Afterbody form of a ship

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Afterbody form of a ship

• Single screw ships

• Twin screw ships

• Supports of propeller shaft

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Afterbody form of a ship

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Afterbody form of a ship

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Afterbody form of a ship

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Afterbody form of a ship

• Single screw ships

• Twin screw ships

• Supports of propeller shaft

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Afterbody form of a ship

Aalto University 01/12/2016 Ship Hydrodynamics 68

Afterbody form of a ship

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Afterbody form of a ship

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Afterbody form of a ship

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Summary
• List and describe relevant characteristics of different
propulsors. E.g.
• Ducted propellers
• Rotatable thrusters
• Steering thrusters
• Water jet propulsion

• What do you need to consider when designing the ship

stern?

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References

• Matusiak J (2010) Laivan kulkuvastus. M-289. Available in Noppa

• Matusiak J (2013) Slides Propulsion ENG 4 and 5. Available in
Noppa

Pictures
• Kerwin and Hadler (2010) Propulsion. The Principles of Naval
Architecture Series. Available in Knovel.
• scmp.com
• http://www.boatdesign.net

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