Inclination angle influence on noise of cavitating marine propeller

Abstract

In this study, the effects of inclined shaft angle on the hydro-acoustic performance of cavitating marine propellers are investigated by a numerical method developed before and Brown\'s empirical formula. The cavitating blades are represented by source and vortex elements. The cavity characteristics of the blades such as cavitation form, cavity volume, cavity length etc., are computed at a given cavitation number and at a set advance coefficient. A lifting surface method is applied for these calculations. The numerical lifting surface method is validated with experimental results of DTMB 4119 model benchmark propeller. After calculation of hydrodynamic characteristics of the cavitating propeller, noise spectrum and overall sound pressure level (OASPL) are computed by Brown\'s equation. This empirical equation is also validated with another numerical results found in the literature. The effects of inclined shaft angle on thrust coefficient, torque coefficient, efficiency and OASPL values are examined by a parametric study. By modifying the inclination angles of propeller, the thrust, torque, efficiency and OASPL are computed and compared with each other. The influence of the inclined shaft angle on cavity patterns on the blades are also discussed.