Computation of Viscous Flow Around Propeller-Shaft Configurations

Abstract

A viscous-flow method for predicting propeller-hull interaction is validated by detailed comparisons with available experimental data for the relatively simple case of propeller-shaft configurations. The steady-flow results are in excellent agreement with the data and show that the present procedures are able to accurately predict many details of the flow field. The dependence of the flow field on propeller loading, including the formation of the hub vortex, is accurately simulated. Also, the robustness of the solution procedure is demonstrated by performing calculations for off-design (large-loading) conditions. The unsteady-flow calculations, which simulate the fanning action of a rotating finite-bladed propeller and which show reasonable agreement with certain general aspects of the experimental data, point out the difficulties of accurately resolving the complex blade-to-blade flow.