The influence of laminate type on a composite ducted propeller based on a two-way fluid-structure interaction method

Abstract

With the development of advanced materials, it is possible to take advantage of the flexibility and anisotropic properties of composites to enable passive morphing capabilities to improve the overall performance of the ducted propeller. By reasonably choosing the ply angle and arranging the stacking sequence, the anisotropy of the laminate can be adjusted to match the actual needs. Hence, the two-way fluid-structure interaction(FSI) method is applied to the composite ducted propeller and its hydrodynamic performance is compared with the metallic one. The efficiency, pressure distribution, deformation, stress and pitch angle properties are compared with different laminate types under various working conditions. According to the failure index, the composite material used in this work can meet the strength requirement. Finally, a parameter optimization method is proposed to obtain the most suitable laminate type for the composite ducted propeller with the optimum hydrodynamic performance and structural properties. The research results can provide references for the design of composite ducted propellers.