Numerical study of a sinusoidal transverse propeller

Abstract

In order to obtain higher propulsion efficiency for marine transportation, the authors have numerically tested a novel trochoidal propeller using a sinusoidal blade pitch function. The main results presented here are the evaluation of thrust and torque, as well as the calculated hydrodynamic efficiency, for various absolute advance coefficients. The performance of the present sinusoidal-pitch trochoidal propeller is compared with previous analytical calculations of transverse propeller performances. Calculations for the trochoidal propeller are performed using a two-dimensional model. The numerical calculation is used to optimize the foil pitch function in order to achieve the highest efficiency for a given geometry and operational parameters. Foil-to-foil interactions are also studied for multiple-foil propellers to determine the effects of the blade number on the hydrodynamic efficiency.