Affiliations: VTT-Technical Research Center of Finland, Espoo, Finland | SISTEMAR, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain | UPM-Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros Navales, Madrid, Spain
Note: [] Corresponding author: Antonio Sánchez-Caja, Ship Hydrodynamics, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Tietotie 1 A, PL 1000 02044 VTT Espoo, Finland. Tel.: +358 50 352 4743; Fax: +358 20 722 7075; E-mail: antonio.sanchez@vtt.fi
Abstract: Systematic variations of the endplate geometry for two endplate propellers are made in order to assess the impact of the blade tip shape on propeller performance. Several types of modifications are analyzed including variations in plate width, contraction angle, plate sweep and flap angle. The effect of endplate geometry modifications in the radial distribution of circulation is illustrated. The magnitude of the circulation is derived from the analysis of the tangential velocities behind the propeller. The contribution of pressure and friction components to the total endplate forces is also shown. Comparisons are made at full scale. A special procedure for the generation of the computational grids is implemented in order to minimize computational errors in the comparison of the alternative geometries. RANS code FINFLO is used in the evaluation.
Keywords: Tip loaded propeller, CLT, endplate, RANS, circulation, FINFLO, efficiency
