Abstract
The recent developments in the additive manufacturing to manufacture complex cost effective profiles is gaining popularity to test the strength of developed products through finite element method (FEM). Finite element analysis (FEA) is a potent tool for mechanical analysis. The combination of 3D printing and FEA is opening new opportunities to go further in the complexity of the product geometry. The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) propeller blade has a complex profile with multi-directional gradient and twist, which requires a multi-stage operation to manufacture, including the hubs. The AUV propeller is required to withstand the applied load and generate the required thrust to move AUV at the desired speed. The current study explores the performance of AUV propeller prepared by additive synthesis using Nylon 6 material. The design of the propeller blade was developed using SOLID WORKS and integrated to the CUBPRO (DUO) to obtain the required 3D printing parameters. A comparative investigation is made for Nylon material within the dimensional conformance with the 3D printed propeller blade. The stress-strain analysis of the Nylon AUV propeller is carried with the FEM. The analysis of error and the stress show that the Nylon material meets the performance criteria for AUV propeller.
Highlights
Development of modular propeller blades for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with conventional methods are laborious, time-consuming, and result in excessive material wastage
Modular AUV propeller has been developed with additive manufacturing (AM) using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), which is suitable for short lead time and cost-efficient prototypes[30]
It has conclusively emerged that 3D printing (3DP) Nylon blade is safe since its yield strength given in Table 1 is much higher
Summary
Development of modular propeller blades for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with conventional methods are laborious, time-consuming, and result in excessive material wastage. In a study, Khaleed et al.[21] suggested a five-stage cold forging process to optimize the size of a preform for complex AUV propeller. This process was both costly and time-consuming. Recent study[22] suggested that the complex shape of AUV propeller can be developed through 3DP This field is open to be utilized even to prepare intricate profiles of underwater vehicles. The current work aims to test the capability of 3D printed AUV propeller made from Nylon 6 In this exploratory study, modular AUV propeller has been developed with AM using FDM, which is suitable for short lead time and cost-efficient prototypes[30]. The propeller blade is analyzed for strength and stress-strain distribution by FEA
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