HIGN SPEED MARINE VEHICLES

PROPELLERS:
A propeller is a rotating fan like structure which is used to propel the
ship by using the power generated and transmitted by the main engine
of the ship. The transmitted power is converted from rotational
motion to generate a thrust which imparts momentum to the water,
resulting in a force that acts on the ship and pushes it forward.
A ship propels on the basis of Bernoulli’s principle and Newton’s
third law. A pressure difference is created on the forward and aft side
of the blade and water is accelerated behind the blades.The thrust
from the propeller is transmitted to move the ship through a
transmission system which consists of a rotational motion generated
by the main engine crank shaft, intermediate shaft and its bearings,
stern tube shaft and its bearing and finally by the propeller itself.A
ship can be fitted with one, two and rarely three propellers depending
upon the speed and manuevering requirements of the vessel.
Types of Propellers
 FIXED PITCH PROPELLERS
The blades in fixed pitch propeller are permanently attached to the
hub. The fixed pitch type propellers are casted and the position of the
blades and hence the position of the pitch is permanently fixed and
cannot be changed during the operation. They are normally made
from copper alloy.Fixed pitch propellers are robust and reliable as the
system doesn’t incorporate any mechanical and hydraulic connection
as in Controlled Pitch Propeller (CPP). The manufacturing,
installation and operational costs are lower than controlled pitch
propeller (CPP) type. The manoeuvrability of fixed pitch propeller is
also not as good as CPP.Thesetypeof propellers are fitted in ship
which does not have good maneuverabilityrequirements.

 CONTROLLABLE PITCH PROPRLLERS

The machinery must develop enough torque to turn the propeller at the
revolutions appropriate to the power being developed or the machinery will lock
up. This matching is not always possible with fixed blades and some ships are
fitted with propellers in which the blades can be rotated about axes normal to
the drive shaft. These are termed controllable pitch propellers (CPPs). The pitch
can be altered to satisfy a range of operating conditions which is useful in tugs
and trawlers. For such ships there is a great difference in the propeller loading
when towing or trawling and when running free. The machinery can be run at
constant speed so that full power can be developed over the range of operating
conditions. The pitch of the blades is changed by gear fitted in the hub and
controlled by linkages passing down the shaft Thus the GPP has a larger boss
than usual which limits the blade area ratio to about 0.8 which affects cavitation
performance. It is also mechanically fairly complex which limits the total power
that can be transmitted. By reversing the pitch an astern thrust can be produced
thus eliminating the need for a reversing gear box. Variation in thrust for
manoeuvring can be more rapid as it only involves changing blade angle rather
than shaft revolutions, but for maximum acceleration or deceleration there will
be an optimum rate of change of blade angle.

 SELF PITCHING PROPELLERS

A propeller which has found favour for auxiliary yachts and motorsailers in
recent years is the selfpitching propeller.8 The blades are free to rotate through
360° about an axis approximately at right angles to the drive shaft. The angle
theblades take up, andtherefore their pitch, is dictated solely by the
hydrodynamic and centrifugal forces acting.

 NOZZLE,DUCT OR SHROUD PROPELLERS

The propeller is surrounded by nozzle, shroud or a duct, the objects are to
improve efficiency, avoid erosion of banks in confined waterways and shield
noise generated on the blades. The duct can be designed so that it contributes to
ahead thrust so offsetting the drag of the shroud and its supports. Most early
applications were to ships with heavily loaded propellers like tugs. Its use is
now being extended and it is considered suitable for large tankers.

 PUMP JET PROPELLERS

This is an advanced variant of ducted propellers used in warships, particularly
submarines, where noise reduction is important. A rotor with a large number of
blades operates between sets of stator blades the whole being surrounded by a
specially shaped duct. The rotational losses in the wake are eliminated,
cavitation is avoided and there is no resultant heeling torque acting on the ship.
The last point is of significance for single screw submarines.

 CONTRA-ROTATORY PROPELLERS
Another way of eliminating net heeling torque is to use two propellers on the
one shaft line rotating in opposite directions. It has been concluded that they can
be useful in large tankers where by using slow running contra-rotating
propellers the quasi-propulsive coefficient can be increased by up to 20 per
cent. In high speed dry cargo ships, where propeller diameter may be restricted
by draught, propeller efficiency may be increased by 12 per cent Like CPPs,
contrarotating propellers introduce mechanical complications.

 AZIMUTHING PROPELLER
These are the propellers mounted on a housing which can be rotate through a
full circle to give thrust in any direction. Drive must be through bevel
gearing and the transmissable power is limited. The usual application is to
tugs for good manoeuvrability.

 VERTICAL AXIS PROPELLERS

This is essentially a horizontal disc, rotating about a vertical axis which carries a
series of vertical blades which can rotate about their own vertical axes. The
individual vertical blades have aerofoil sections and generate lift forces by the
same principles as those described for the screw propeller. By controlling the
angle of the blades as the horizontal disc turns, a thrust can be produced in any
desired direction. Vertical axis propellers are fitted in tugs and ferries for good
manoeuvrability. Drive again is usually through bevel gears with a limitation on
the power.

 WATER JET PROPELLERS

This type of propellers have been highly used in high speed craft. Water is
drawn into the ship and then pushed out at the stern to develop thrust. The
ejecting unit can be steerable to give a varying thrust direction. It is attractive
for craft where it is desired to have no moving parts outside the hull. For this
reason early applications were for craft operating in very shallow water. The
water jet can be discharged either above or below water. Some hydrofoil craft
use the system, discharging above water.

 SURFACE PIERCING PROPELLERS

In recent years the number of Surface Piercing Propellers being used in high-
speed vessels has increased considerably. This is due to their higher propulsive
efficiencies than conventional propellers, considerably reduced appendage drag
as no shaft or support brackets are immersed in the water-flow below the hull
and the absence of any cavitating phenomena which can be particularly severe
and limiting for conventional propellers. Surface Piercing Propellers are unique
in that they are designed to deliver their thrust off the aft blade face only using a
mass/velocity momentum change of the impinging water. Due to this peculiar
functioning, the blades are often wedge-section in shape and the presence of an
air-sheet on the forward face of the blade prevents the inception of vapour
bubbles and thus cavitation. Typical installation of a Surface Piercing Propeller
consists of a driveshaft coming out of the transom at about 5o which leads to a
propeller immersion of about 50% in dry-transom and planing conditions. One
unintended advantage of this installation is the considerable reduction in the
draft of the vessel.

 SUPER CAVITATION PROPELLERS

The super cavitating propeller is a variant of a propeller for propulsion in water,
where cavitation (formation of water vapour) is actively employed to gain
increased speed by reduced friction. The super cavitating propeller operates in
the conventional submerged mode, with the entire diameter of the blade below
the water line. The blades of a super cavitating propeller are wedge shaped to
force cavitation at the leading edge and avoid water skin friction along the
whole forward face. The cavity collapses well behind the blade, which is the
reason the super cavitation principle avoids the erosion damage due to
cavitation that is a problem with conventional propulsion.The super cavitating
propeller is being used for military purposes and for high performance boat
racing vessels as well as model boat racing.

 TWIN SCREW PROPELLERS

The presentation considered aspects of twin screw ships in relation to their
single screw counterparts in termsof manoeuvrability, propulsion efficiency and
redundancy. All of these issues have an implication foroperating cost and the
discussion ranged across a number of ship types including bulk carriers,
containerships, LNG ships, passenger ships and tankers.From statistics based
around the cause of loss it was seen that while weather, grounding and fire were
theprincipal causes of total loss claims, machinery was by far the greatest cause
of partial loss. Discussion thenturned to the redundancy requirements for
passenger ships that will come into force on the 1st July 2010 andthe
implications these will have on design in terms of the systems which will need
to be kept operational inthe event that a space becomes non-
operational.Attention then turned to the propulsion efficiency of twin screw
ships in relation to conventional views andthese were challenged in the context
of modern hull forms and propulsors, particularly in relation to verylarge
container ships, in excess of 15000 teu, and LNG ships. Within this discussion
the importance of andproblems associated with scale effects featured. Following
on from this, the implications of these effectswere then considered in the
context of propeller cavitation development and bearing forces and moments
aswas the interaction between hull surface pressure magnitudes and propeller
efficiency.Within the context of ship manoeuvrability the advantages of podded
propulsors over conventional systemswere examined as was the importance of
taking a considered view of the interpretation of the SOLASrequirements in
relation to podded propulsor manoeuvring. Discussion then moved on to the
importance ofload prediction, material quality, oil quality and control
philosophies in relation to achieving acceptablereliability of podded propulsors.
Finally, some discussion was held on the methods by which the
cavitationperformance of rudders could be predicted and the correlation that
was achievable by two phase modellingwith modern computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) codes.