The Study on Optimization Design of Propeller Pitch

Abstract

Wang, C.; Ye, L.; Chang, X., and Huang, S., 2015. The study on optimization design of propeller pitch.With the increasing requirements of the hydrodynamic performance of the propeller, the optimization design of propeller has been gradually taken by people. With the DTRC series propellers as master model, this paper uses the theoretical prediction program based on surface panel method and combines with particle swarm optimization algorithm to study the optimization of propeller pitch (the other parameter is the same as the original propeller). In the optimization process, there are two different kinds of pitch expression (linear superposition method and Bezier function method) to fit radial distribution of pitch. With open water efficiency as the goal, the propeller is optimized and then discusses the influence of skew on open water efficiency. The result shows that Bezier method fits pitch curve more smoothly compared with hick-henne method, and that under the condition of meeting the thrust coefficient, the optimized propeller of Bezier method has higher open water efficiency.