Abstract
Adaptive composite propeller blades showing bend twist behaviour have received increasing interest from hydrodynamic and structural engineers. When exposed to periodic loading conditions, such propellers can be designed to have higher energy efficiency and emit less noise and vibration than conventional propellers. This work describes a method to produce an adaptive composite propeller blade and how a point load experiment can verify the predicted elastic response in the blade. A 600 mm-long hollow full-size blade was built and statically tested in the laboratory. Finite element modelling predicted a pitch angle change under operational load variable loads of 0.55°, a geometric change that notably compensates for the load cases. In the laboratory experiment, the blade was loaded at two points with increasing magnitude. The elastic response was measured with digital image correlation and strain gauges. Model predictions and experimental measurements showed the same deformation patterns, and the twist angle agreed within 0.01 degrees, demonstrating that such propellers can be successfully built and modelled by finite element analysis.
Highlights
Large ships often use propellers for propulsion and manoeuvring
When the propeller rotates in such operating conditions, the propeller blades move through these different loads, which causes the load on each propeller blade to vary throughout each revolution
A simple point layup of the blade propeller blade based proposed on designs in earlier works load experiment, both modelled in a finite element analysis (FEA)
Summary
Large ships often use propellers for propulsion and manoeuvring. In some manoeuvring operations, the propeller blades may operate in loading conditions where they are unequally loaded [1]. When the propeller rotates in such operating conditions, the propeller blades move through these different loads, which causes the load on each propeller blade to vary throughout each revolution. Such periodic load variation on the blades can cause undesired inefficiencies, cavitation, vibrations and noise (harmful towards marine life) [2,3]. The bend-twist deformation can function as an immediate pitch adjustment which mitigates the periodic load variations [1,2,6,7,8,9,10,11]. For more information about periodic load variation on propeller blades and the mechanics of how a pitch adjustment physically mitigate load variations, refer to [1,7,9,10,11]
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