Scale Model Testing of a Commercial Rim-Driven Propulsor Pod

Abstract

Podded propulsion is gaining more widespread use in the marine industry and is prevalent in newer cruise ships in particular. This propulsion system can provide many advantages to the ship owner that include increased propulsion efficiency, arrangement flexibility, payload, and harbor maneuverability. A new, unique podded propulsor concept is being developed that allows optimization of each element of the system. The concept comprises a ducted, multiple-blade row propulsor with a permanent magnet, radial field motor rotor mounted on the tips of the propulsor rotor blades, and the motor stator mounted within the duct of the propulsor. This concept, designated a commercial rim-driven propulsor pod (CRDP), when compared to a conventional hub-driven pod (HDP), offers improved performance in a number of areas, including equal or improved efficiency, cavitation, and hull unsteady pressures. The combination of these CRDP performance parameters allows the ship designer much greater flexibility to provide improved ship performance as compared to that of an HDP. A CRDP is being developed to power a panamax-size cruise vessel. The paper addresses the hydrodynamic performance of that CRDP design demonstrated at 1/25th scale as tested at the Hamburg Ship Model Basin, Hamburg Germany (HSVA).