Razaghian, Amir Hossein; Ghassemi, Hassan
(Scientific Journals Maritime University of Szczecin, Zeszyty Naukowe Akademia Morska w Szczecinie,
)
This paper investigates the open-water characteristics of the 5-blade propeller with accelerating and deceler-
ating ducts using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation code. In the first step, numerical
open-water hydrodynamic characteristics of the propeller in the absence of a duct were validated using the
available experimental data. The shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model was chosen, which shows less
error in thrust and torque coefficients than others. In the second step, two accelerating and decelerating ducts,
namely ducts 19A and N32, were modeled. In these simulations, the clearance value was selected at 3 percent
of the propeller’s diameter and uniform-flow conditions were assumed.
After analysis of the mesh sensitivity for the propeller thrust, the results were compared to the corresponding
open-water condition values. In this regard, results of the hydrodynamic coefficients, pressure distribution, and
coefficients on the propeller-blade surface and ducts were also analyzed and discussed.