Flow-induced vibration analysis of elastic propellers in a cyclic inflow: An experimental and numerical study

In this paper, the flow-induced vibrations of marine propellers in cyclic inflows are investigated both experimentally and numerically. A Laser-Doppler velocimetry (LDV) system is used to measure the axial flow velocity distributions produced by the seven-cycle wake screen in the water tunnel. A customized underwater slip ring and a single axis accelerometer sealed by silicon sealant are employed to measure the acceleration responses of rotating propeller blade. Numerical simulations of pressure fluctuations on the blades are performed using large eddy simulation (LES), while the forced vibrations of the propeller blades are obtained by a combined finite element and boundary element method. Experimental and numerical results are presented for two model propellers with the same geometries and different flexible properties, which show that the propeller blade vibrates at a frequency which is seven times as large as the axial passing frequency (APF) in the seven-cycle inflow. Moreover, the propeller blades are observed to resonance when the 7 APF excitation frequency is equal to the fundamental frequency of the propellers. The results indicate that both the inflow feature and the modal characteristic of blades contribute to flow-induced vibrations of elastic propellers.     

Performance assessment of a concept propulsor: the thrust-balanced propeller

This paper presents the results of a numerical performance analysis to demonstrate the worthiness of a recently patented new concept propulsor, the so-called “thrust-balanced propeller (TBP)”. The main advantage of this unconventional propulsor is its inherent ability to reduce the unsteady effect of blade forces and moments when it is operating in a non-uniform wake flow. The propulsor comprises a pair of diametrically opposed blades that are connected to one another and mounted so as to be rotatable together through a limited angle about their spindle axis. A quasi-hydrodynamic approach is described and applied to perform the numerical analysis using a state-of-the-art lifting surface procedure for conventional propellers. Performance comparisons with a conventional fixed-pitch propeller are made for the blade forces and moments, efficiency, cavitation extents and fluctuating hull pressures. Bearing in mind the quasi-static nature of the analyses, the results present favourable performance characteristics for the thrust-balanced propeller and support the worthiness of the concept. However, the concept needs to be proved through physical model tests, which are planned to take in a cavitation tunnel.     

Numerical investigation on the hydrodynamic characteristics of a marine propeller operating in oblique inflow

The hydrodynamic characteristics of a marine propeller operating in oblique inflow are investigated by using CFD method. Two propellers with different geometries are selected as the study subjects. RANS simulation is carried out for the propellers working at a wide range of advance coefficients and incidence angles. The effects of axial inflow and lateral inflow are demonstrated with the hydrodynamic force on the propeller under different working conditions. Based on the obtained flow field details, the hydrodynamic mechanism of propeller operating in oblique inflow is analyzed further. The trailing vortex wake of propeller is highly affected by the lateral inflow, resulting in the deflected development path and the circumferentially non-uniform structure, as well as the enhanced axial velocity in slipstream. Different flow patterns are observed on the propeller blade with the variation of circumferential position. Combined with the computed hydrodynamic forces and pressure distribution on propeller, the mechanism resulting in the increase of propulsive loads and the generation of propeller side force is explored. Finally, a systematic analysis is carried out for the propulsive loads and propeller side force as a function of axial and lateral advance coefficients. The major terms that play a dominant role in the modeling of propulsive loads and propeller side force are determined through the sensitivity analysis. This study provides a deeper insight into the hydrodynamic characteristics of propeller operating in oblique inflow, which is useful to the investigation of propeller performance during ship maneuvers.     

Effect of time step size and turbulence model on the open water hydrodynamic performance prediction of contra-rotating propellers

A growing interest has been devoted to the contra-rotating propellers (CRPs) due to their high propulsive efficiency, torque balance, low fuel consumption, low cavitations, low noise performance and low hull vibration. Compared with the single-screw system, it is more difficult for the open water performance prediction because forward and aft propellers interact with each other and generate a more complicated flow field around the CRPs system. The current work focuses on the open water performance prediction of contra-rotating propellers by RANS and sliding mesh method considering the effect of computational time step size and turbulence model. The validation study has been performed on two sets of contra-rotating propellers developed by David W Taylor Naval Ship R & D center. Compared with the experimental data, it shows that RANS with sliding mesh method and SST k-ω turbulence model has a good precision in the open water performance prediction of contra-rotating propellers, and small time step size can improve the level of accuracy for CRPs with the same blade number of forward and aft propellers, while a relatively large time step size is a better choice for CRPs with different blade numbers.     

Unsteady hydromechanics of a steering podded propeller unit

Unsteady forces, torques and bending moments were predicted for a model podded propulsor unit at various azimuth angles. Predictions in time history include propeller shaft thrust, propulsor unit thrust, normal forces to the propeller shaft bearing, total forces acting on the propulsor unit, propeller shaft torque, blade spindle torque, in-plane and out-of-plane bending moments, and propulsor unit stock shaft torque and bending moments. Analysis was performed for averaged forces and their fluctuations as well. A time-domain unsteady multi-body panel method code, PROPELLA, was further developed for this prediction work. Predictions were compared with a set of time averaged in-house experimental data for a puller-type podded propulsor configuration in the first quadrant operation. Unsteady fluctuations of forces were predicted numerically. Analysis was made for the bending moment on propeller blades, shaft and the propulsor unit stock shaft for azimuth angles from 0° to 45°. It indicates that the magnitude and fluctuation of the forces are significant and they are essential for structural strength and design optimization. The predicted bending moment and global forces on the propulsor unit provide some useful data for ship maneuvering motion and simulation in off-design conditions.     

带前缘结节叶片导管桨尾流不稳定性分析

导管桨的尾流不稳定性在其性能评价中非常重要,不但是其能否提供稳定推力的保证,而且也与螺旋桨的尾流噪声直接相关。为了改善导管桨的尾流,提高尾流稳定性,并优化导管桨的流场脉动,根据座头鲸鳍肢前缘结节的仿生原理,对导管桨叶片的导边进行改进,提出了两种仿生桨型,采用IDDES湍流模型对低进速系数下常规导管桨和仿生叶片导管桨进行数值模拟,探究叶片构型对导管桨性能和尾流不稳定性的影响。计算结果表明,前缘结节可以有效降低叶片受力波动的幅值和叶片所受合力的主频域峰值,具有较大结节的叶片对导管桨尾流有明显的优化作用,在尾流远场中扩大了流动稳定区,延后了尾流处涡破碎的发生,改善了能量谱密度的频域分布。进一步,大前缘结节叶片导管桨应用在低速工况下时,可以大量减少尾流泄涡区域的二次涡产生,这是由于前缘结节提升了相邻涡互感的强度,使得尾流更加稳定,而小结节叶片仿生桨型对导管桨尾流则无明显优化作用。研究方法和成果可为螺旋桨尤其是导管桨尾流不稳定性研究提供参考,不仅验证了前缘结节在导管桨叶片应用的合理性,而且揭示了其优化尾流稳定性的机理。     

Unsteady RANS simulation of a surface piercing propeller in oblique flow

Conventional propellers might undergo severe cavitation at high speeds and this phenomenon not only affects the efficiency of the propeller, but also may result in serious damages in propulsion system. Due to their special geometries, surface piercing propellers (SPPs) overcome this problem and achieve high efficiencies in high speeds. Therefore, SPPs are one of the popular propulsors for high-speed crafts. The present research is aimed to pursue SPP's performance in the off-design conditions. URANS method was used to study the performance of the 841-B SPP (a case with some available experimental results; Olofsson, 1996) in several immersion ratios (I = 33%, 50%, 75% and 100%) and maneuvering conditions (incident angles of 0°, 10° and 20°). The free surface was simulated using VOF method. Off-design conditions might exert extra or less forces and torques on the propeller's blade. In the present research for 841-B SPP, it was found that a maneuver condition would increase the thrust and torque coefficient for some cases. The sliding mesh technique was utilized to simulate the 841-B SPP performance, which unlike the multiple reference frame (MRF) technique, this technique allows to capture the blades hit on the water surface in transient mode simulations.     

On the hydrodynamic loading of marine cycloidal propeller during maneuvering

In marine cycloidal propeller (MCP), the inflow velocity vector to the propeller blade continuously changes at different blade orbit angle. Earlier marine cycloidal propellers were installed on ships that mainly performed towing operations. Recently marine cycloidal propellers are being installed on large naval vessels, which spend lot of their operating hours in cruising. Therefore, the hydrodynamic loading on the blades both during cruising maneuvers need to be investigated. The flow characteristics around the propeller blade are computed numerically by panel method. Viscous effects on the flow are then estimated by boundary layer technique. The effect of rotating disc on viscous fluid is also investigated. The corrected flow characteristics are then used for estimating the hydrodynamic loading. The operating conditions that are critical for the loading of the blade and the support structure and some aspects of the maneuvering simulation at cruising speed are investigated.     

A novel maneuverable propeller for improving maneuverability and propulsive performance of underwater vehicles

The existing propulsor that can perform both propulsion and maneuvering along axis of rotation is propeller/rotor for a helicopter. Helicopter propellers when maneuvering increase or decrease their blades’ pitch cyclically to create imbalanced thrust and hence maneuvering force/torque. A “maneuverable propeller” was developed and its performance on both maneuvering and propulsion is assessed. The “maneuverable propeller” is an alternative of the existing helicopter rotors. The novelty of this propulsor is that the imbalanced thrust force/torque is created by cyclically increasing or decreasing the angular speed of their blades relatively to the hubs/shafts, to provide the desired maneuvering torque. This maneuverable propeller is hence defined as the Cyclic Blade Variable Rotational Speed Propeller (CBVRP). One of the best advantages is that the maneuvering torque created by the “maneuverable propeller” is much higher, about 5 times of the shaft torque of the same propeller at thrust only mode. The “maneuverable propeller” has wide applications for both surface ships and underwater vehicles that require high maneuverability for cruising inside the narrow passage.     

双拱初始缺陷海底管线水平向整体屈曲数值模拟分析

为了研究具有双拱反对称初始缺陷海底管线的整体屈曲特性,采用模态分析法将最可能出现的缺陷形态引入数值分析模型中。针对管线在高温高压作用下发生整体屈曲的动态变形特征,运用显式动力数值模拟方法研究了管线整体屈曲过程中水平向变形与轴向变形随温度和内压的变化规律,建立了在整体屈曲过程中屈曲管段与滑动管段轴力的变化过程与初始缺陷形态的关系。将数值模拟结果同经典解析解和室内模型实验结果进行对比,验证了本方法的可靠性。工程算例的分析结果表明,管线整体屈曲的发生是一个由低阶向高阶发展的过程,具有双拱缺陷的管线首先发生二阶模态的整体屈曲,而后过渡到四阶模态;管线整体屈曲的变形包括屈曲段的水平向变形和滑动管段的轴向缩进,其中水平变形释放了管壁内的轴力,轴力的释放量随初始缺陷尖锐程度的降低而增大;轴向缩进变形由于受到地基土的摩阻力使滑动管段内的轴力发生累积,轴力的累积量随初始缺陷的尖锐程度的降低而增加。以上研究成果对指导实际工程具有现实意义。     

Design of wake-adapted contra-rotating propellers for high-speed underwater vehicles

Based on the lifting-surface vortex lattice model, a numerical design method of wake-adapted contra-rotating propellers (CRPs) for high-speed underwater vehicles is proposed. According to the given radial circulation distribution, the method can use prescribed camber line shapes to design maximum cambers and pitches of blade sections by controlling circulation at the leading edge, which makes the chordwise distribution of blade loading similar to that of NACA a = 0.8. It also can be performed under prescribed chordwise circulation distributions, where camber line shape and blade section pitch are designed. The Newton–Raphson iterative algorithm is utilised in the design of the pitch and camber. The radial circulation distribution of a set of CRPs for an underwater vehicle is used to redesign CRPs by the proposed method, and the design results are then validated via numerical simulations by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The results indicate that the proposed method is suitable for the design of CRPs with tapered hubs and skewed blades, and it also exhibits good mesh convergence. The CRPs designed with the given camber line shape and the given chordwise loading distribution both have relatively uniform pressure distributions, with the latter being superior.     

Experimental study on the hydrodynamic forces induced by a twin-propeller ferry during berthing

The paper presents the experimental study on the influence of wall effect on the hydrodynamic forces induced by the propellers and thrusters of a ferry during the berthing. The program of the model tests was developed for the twin-propeller, twin-rudder, man-manned model of a car–passenger ferry in 1:16 scale, equipped with two bow thrusters. The different combinations of the operational settings of bow thrusters and propellers operating in the push–pull mode allowed to observe and quantify the variation of the hydrodynamic forces due to the changes of the water depth to draft ratios and distances to the quay. The results of model tests are introduced and discussed in the paper. The difference between the measured total hydrodynamic force and superposition of the component forces induced by the propellers and thrusters has been investigated. According to the structure of the generally accepted modular manoeuvring model, the proposition of the weight factors for the component forces comprising the interaction effects has been introduced and discussed.     

船舶螺旋桨尾流场的数值分析

利用基于速度势的低阶面元法计算船舶螺旋桨的尾流场。采用计算较为简捷的关于扰动速度势的基本积分微分方程，并采用双曲面形状的面凶以消除面元间的缝隙。Newton-Raphson迭代过程被用来在桨叶随边满足压力Kutta条件，使桨叶面上表面的压力在随边有良好的一致性。在计算面元的影响系数时，应用了Morino导出的解析计算公式，加快了数值计算的速度。从解面元法的基本积分方程得到的偶极强度和源汇强度，直接求得尾流场的速度分布。     

A novel decomposition of the quadratic transfer function (QTF) for the time-domain simulation of non-linear wave forces on floating bodies

In the present study, a novel method is proposed for the separation of the second-order sum- and difference-frequency wave forces—that is, quadratic transfer functions (QTFs)—on a floating body into three components due to wave–wave, wave–motion, and motion–motion action. By applying the new QTF components, the second-order wave forces on a floating body can be strictly computed in the time domain. In this work, the boundary value problems (BVPs) corresponding to the three kinds of QTF components were derived, and non-homogeneous boundary conditions on the free surface and the body surface were obtained. The second-order diffraction potentials were determined using the boundary integral equation method. In the solution procedure, the highly oscillatory and slowly converging integral on the free surface was evaluated in an accurate and effective manner. Furthermore, the application of the QTF components in the time domain was demonstrated. The second-order exciting forces in the time domain were divided into three parts. Each part of these forces was computed via a two-term Volterra series model based on the incident waves, the first-order motion response, and the QTF components. This method was applied to several numerical examples. The results demonstrated that this decomposition yields satisfactory results.     

Free vibrations of three-dimensional extensible marine cables with specified top tension via a variational method

This paper presents a model formulation that can be used for analyzing the three-dimensional vibration behaviours of an inclined extensible marine cable. The virtual work-energy functional, which involves strain energy due to axial stretching of the cable and virtual work done by external hydrostatic forces is formulated. The coupled equations of motion in the Cartesian coordinates of global systems are obtained by taking into account the difference between Euler’s equations and equilibrium equations. The method of Galerkin finite element is used to obtain the mass and stiffness matrices which are transformed into the local coordinate systems. Then the eigenvalue problem is solved to determine its natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes. The model formulation developed herein is conveniently applied for the cases of specified top tension. The numerical investigations are carried out to demonstrate the validity of the model and to explore in details the influence of various parameters on the behaviours of marine cables. Results for the frequency avoidance phenomenon, maximum dynamic tension and coupled transverse mode shapes are presented and discussed.     

The effects of blade twist and nacelle shape on the performance of horizontal axis tidal current turbines

The paper presents the effects of blade twist and nacelle shape on the performance of horizontal axis tidal current turbines using both analytical and numerical methods. Firstly, in the hydrodynamic design procedure, the optimal profiles of untwisted and twisted blades and their predicted theoretical turbine performance are obtained using the genetic algorithm method. Although both blade profiles produce desired rated rotational speed, the twisted blade achieves higher power and thrust performance. Secondly, numerical simulation is performed using sliding mesh technique to mimic rotating turbine in ANSYS FLUENT to validate the analytical results. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approximation of the turbulence parameters is applied to obtain the flow field around the turbine. It is found that power and axial thrust force from BEMT (Blade Element Momentum Theory) method are under-predicted by 2% and 8% respectively, compared with numerical results. Afterwards, the downstream wake field of the turbine is investigated with two different nacelle shapes. It is found that the rotor performance is not significantly affected by the different nacelle shapes. However, the structural turbulence caused by the conventional nacelle is stronger than that by the NACA-profiled shape, and the former can cause detrimental effect on the performance of the downstream turbines in tidal farms.     

Numerical and experimental study on hydrodynamic interaction of side-by-side moored multiple vessels

This paper aims to investigate the basic interaction characteristics of side-by-side moored vessels both numerically and experimentally. A higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) combined with generalized mode approach is applied to analysis of motion and drift force of side-by-side moored multiple vessels (LNG FPSO, LNGC and shuttle tankers). Model tests were carried out for the same floating bodies investigated in the numerical study in regular and irregular waves. Global and local motion responses and drift forces of three vessels are compared with those of calculations. Discussions is highlighted on applicability of numerical method to prediction of sophisticated multi-body interaction problem of which motion behavior is very important to analysis of mooring dynamics of deep sea floating bodies.     

海底管道整体屈曲的枕木-浮力耦合法研究

不埋海底管道在高温高压作用下,易发生水平向整体屈曲.实际工程中,常通过在管道路由上设置整体屈曲触发装置,实现对水平向整体屈曲的有效控制,其中以枕木法的成功应用最为多见.本文分析了枕木法的主要影响因素并验证了采用枕木法会出现管道屈曲段应力集中的现象,对比了枕木法、分布浮力法和枕木-浮力耦合法对管道整体屈曲变形规律的影响,...     

A general equation for performance analysis of multi-component propulsor with propeller

An integral panel method (IPM) that treats the different components of multi-component propulsors as a whole is presented for efficient propulsor performance analysis. The IPM requires consider only one blade of the propeller in the performance analysis, which significantly reduces the number of computation grid. The control equations of the IPM are derived in detail for podded propulsors, contra-rotating propellers and hybrid contra-rotating shaft pod propulsors, and based on these derivations, a general control equation for multi-component propulsors with propeller is derived. Comparison between numerical results and experimental data show that the IPM provides good accuracy for the performance analysis of multi-component propulsors with propeller. In addition, the error sources of IPM are discussed, and the reasonableness of these errors is evaluated.     

Experimental investigation of hydrodynamic force coefficients over AUV hull form

Extensive use of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in oceanographic applications necessitates investigation into the hydrodynamic forces acting over an AUV hull form operating under deeply submerged condition. This paper presents a towing tank-based experimental study on forces and moment on AUV hull form in the vertical plane. The AUV hull form considered in the present program is a 1:2 model of the standard hull form Afterbody1. The present measurements were carried out at typical speeds of autonomous underwater vehicles (0.4-1.4 m/s) by varying pitch angles (0-15°). The hydrodynamic forces and moment are measured by an internally mounted multi-component strain gauge type balance. The measurements were used to study variation of axial, normal, drag, lift and pitching moment coefficients with Reynolds number (Re) and angle of attack. The measurements have also been used to validate results obtained from a CFD code that uses Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes equations (ANSYS™ Fluent). The axial and normal force coefficients are increased by 18% and 195%; drag, lift and pitching moment coefficients are increased by 90%, 182% and 297% on AUV hull form at α=15° and Re_v=3.65×10⁵. These results can give better idea for the efficient design of guidance and control systems for AUV.