Strut optimization analysis of azimuth thruster with contra-rotating propellers
[Objective]This paper aims to investigate the effect of the strut geometry on the open water per-formance of the azimuth thruster with contra-rotating propellers(CRPs).[Methods]The RANS method and k-ω turbulence model are applied to predict the hydrodynamic performance of an azimuth thruster with CRPs and different strut design schemes at model scale and real scale in open water.Meanwhile,the flow field characteristics and wake fraction of the rear propeller are explored,and analysis on the flow separation at the stern of the strut after and before optimization is carried out.[Results]The results show that the optimiza-tion scheme of the struts moving forward and the leading edge thinning increases the propeller open water effi-ciency by 1.01%.The optimization scheme of the struts adopting a twist design and the strut section introdu-cing cambers increases that value by 1.15%.In addition,the flow separation at the model scale is more serious than that at the real scale.[Conclusions]It is found that the optimized struts can reduce the flow separation at the stern,improve the rear propeller absorption of the wake vortex energy of the front propeller and in-crease the inflow of the rear propeller,which has practical engineering significance for improving the propul-sion performance of an azimuth thruster with CRPs.
azimuth thruster with contra-rotating propellersstrut optimizationhydrodynamic perform-ancemodel scalereal scale