International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-4, Issue-2, Aprl.

-2017
http://iraj.in
DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF THE PROPELLER BLADE
1
PALLE PRASAD, 2LANKA BOSU BABU
1,2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, GVR & S College of Engineering & Technology, Guntur – 522 013 (A.P.), India
E mail: [email protected]

Abstract - In current years the increased need for the light weight structural element with acoustic insulation, has led to use
of fiber reinforced multi-layer composite propeller. The present work carries out the structural analysis of a CFRP (carbon
fiber reinforced plastic) propeller blade which proposed to replace the Aluminum propeller blade.
Propeller is subjected to an external hydrostatic pressure on either side of the blades depending on the operating depth and
flow around the propeller also result in differential hydrodynamic pressure between face and back surfaces of blades. The
propeller blade is modeled and designed such that it can with stand the static load distribution and finding the stresses and
deflections for both aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastic materials.
This work basically deals with the modeling and design analysis of the propeller blade of a torpedo for its strength. A
propeller is complex 3D model geometry. This requires high end modeling CATIA software is used for generating the blade
model. This report consists of brief details about Fiber Reinforced Plastic materials and the advantages of using _ composite
propeller over the conventional metallic propeller. By using ANSYS software static structural analysis were carried out for
two different materials

I. INTRODUCTION subjected to corrosion, cavitations damage; fatigue

induced cracking and has relatively poor acoustic
Marine propeller is a component which forms the damping properties that can lead to noise due to
principal part of ships since it gives the required structural vibration. Moreover, composites can offer
propulsion. Fiber reinforced plastics are extensively the potential benefits of reduced corrosion and
used in the manufacturing of various structures cavitation’s damage, improved fatigue performance,
including the marine propeller. The hydrodynamic lower noise, improved material damping properties,
aspects of the design of composite marine propellers and reduced lifetime maintenance cost. In addition
have attracted attention because they are important in the load-bearing fibers can be aligned and stacked to
predicting the deflection and performance of the reduce fluttering and to improve the hydrodynamic
propeller blade. efficiency.

For designing an optimized marine propeller one has Types of marine propellers
to understand the parameters that influence the hydro-  Controllable pitch propeller
dynamic behavior. Since propeller is a complex  Skewback propeller
geometry, the analysis could be done only with the  Modular propeller
help of numerical tools. Most marine propellers are
made of metal material such as bronze or steel. The Controllable pitch propeller
advantages of replacing metal with an FRP composite A controllable pitch propeller one type of marine
are that the latter is lighter and corrosion-resistant. propeller is the controllable pitch propeller. This
Another important advantage is that the deformation propeller has several advantages with ships. These
of the composite propeller can be controlled to advantages include: the least drag depending on the
improve its performance. Propellers always rotate at a speed used, the ability to move the sea vessel
constant velocity that maximizes the efficiency of the backwards, and the ability to use the "vane"-stance,
engine. When the ship sails at the designed speed, the which gives the least water resistance when not using
inflow angle is close to its pitch angle. When the ship the propeller (e.g. when the sails are used instead).
sails at a lower speed, the inflow angle is smaller.
Hence, the pressure on the propeller increases as the Skewback propeller
ship speed decreases. The propulsion efficiency is An advanced type of propeller used on German Type
also low when the inflow angle is far from the pitch 212 submarines is called a skewback propeller. As in
angle. If the pitch angle can be reduced when the the scimitar blades used on some aircraft, the blade
inflow angle is low, then the efficiency of the tips of a skewback propeller are swept back against
propeller can be improved. the direction of rotation. In addition, the blades are
tilted rearward along the longitudinal axis, giving the
Traditionally marine propellers are made of propeller an overall cup-shaped appearance. This
manganese-nickel-aluminum-bronze (MAB) or design preserves thrust efficiency while reducing
nickel-aluminium-bronze (NAB) for superior cavitation’s, and thus makes for a quiet, stealthy
corrosion resistance, high-yield strength, reliability, design.
and affordability. More over metallic propellers are

Design and Analysis of the Propeller Blade

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 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-4, Issue-2, Aprl.-2017
http://iraj.in
Modular propeller Pitch Consider a point P lying on the surface of a
A modular propeller provides more control over the cylinder of radius r which is at some initial point P0
boats performance. There is no need to change an and moves as to from a helix over the surface of a
entire prop, when there is an opportunity to only cylinder.
change the pitch or the damaged blades. Being able to The propeller moves forward as to rotate and this
adjust pitch will allow for boaters to have better movement create a helix.
performance while in different altitudes, water sports, When the point P has completed one revolution of
and/or cruising. helix that means the angle of rotation: φ = 360o or 2π
the cylinder intersects the X-Z plane and moves
II. PROPELLER GEOMETRY forward at a distance of P.
In the projection one revolution of the helix around
Frames of Reference: the cylinder measured normal to the OX axis is equal
For propeller geometry it is convenient to define a to 2πr.
local reference frame having a Common axis such The distance moved forward by the helical line
that OX and Ox are coincident but Oy and Oz rotate during this revolution is p and the helix angle is given
relative to the OY and OZ fixed global frame. by: θ
The angle θ is termed the pitch angle and the distance
p is the pitch.

There are several pitch definitions.

Nose-tail pitch: The straight line connecting the
extremities of the mean line or nose and tail of a
propeller blade is called nose-tail pitch line. The
section angles of attack are defined to the nose-tail
line.

Fig 1: Propeller Reference Lines Face pitch: The face pitch line is basically a tangent
to section’s pressure side surface and you can draw so
The line normal to the shaft axis is called either many lines to the pressure side. It is rarely used but it
propeller reference line or directory. In the case of can be seen in older drawings like Wageningen B
controllable pitch propeller the spindle axis is used as series.
synonymous with the reference line.
Effective or no-lift pitch: It is the pitch line of the
Generator line: The line formed by intersection of section corresponding to aerodynamic no-lift line
the pitch helices and the plane containing the shaft which results zero lift.
axis and propeller reference line.
Hydrodynamic pitch: The hydrodynamic pitch
The airfoil sections which together comprise the angle (βi) is the pitch angle at which the incident flow
blade of a propeller are defined on the surfaces of encounters the blade section. Effective pitch angle
cylinders whose axes are concentric with the shaft (θ0) = Noise-tail pitch angle (θ, θnt) + 3-D zero-lift
axis. angle where 3-D zero lift angle is the difference
between θ0 and θ. θ0 = Hydrodynamic pitch angle
Face: The side of a propeller blade which faces (βi) + Angle of attack of section (α) + 3-D zero lift
downstream during a head motion is called face or angle and Pitch values at different radii are called
pressure side (when viewed from aft of a ship to the radial pitch distribution.
bow the seen side of a propeller blade is called face
or pressure side). Slip Ratio
If the propeller works in a solid medium (has no slip),
Back: The side of a propeller blade which faces i.e. if the water which the propeller “screws” itself
generally direction of a head motion is called back or through does not yield (i.e. if the water did not
suction side (when viewed from aft of a ship to the accelerate aft), the propeller will move forward at a
bow the unseen side of a propeller blade is called speed of V = p × n, where n is the propeller’s rate of
back or suction side). revolution, as seen in the below figure. The similar
situation is shown for a corkscrew, and because the
Leading Edge: When the propeller rotating the edge cork is a solid material, the slip is zero and, therefore,
piercing water is called leading edge. the cork screw always moves forward at a speed of V
= p × n. However, as the water is a fluid and does
Trailing Edge: When the propeller rotating the edge yield (i.e. accelerate aft), the propeller’s apparent
trailing the leading edge is called trailing edge. speed forward decreases with its slip and becomes

Design and Analysis of the Propeller Blade

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 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-4, Issue-2, Aprl.-2017
http://iraj.in
equal to the ship’s speed V, and its apparent slip can In general, the developed area is greater than the
thus be expressed as p × n – V. projected area and slightly less than the expanded
area.
Skew
It is the angle between the mid-chord position of a Blade Sections-NACA Definitions
section and the directrix (θs).
Mean line or camber line: It is the location of mid-
The propeller skew angle (θsp) is defined as the points between upper and lower surfaces when
greatest angle measured at the shaft centre line which measured perpendicular to the camber line.
can be drawn between lines passing from the shaft Chord length (c): The distance between the leading
center line through the mid chord position of any two edge and trailing edges when measured along the
sections. chord line is termed as chord length of the section
Camber: is the maximum distance between the
The skew can be classified into two types: camber line and chord line.
Thickness: of a section is the distance between upper
Balanced skew: Directrix intersects with the mid- and lower surfaces of the section also measured
chord line at least twice. perpendicular to the chord line.
Biased skew: Mid-chord locus crosses the directrix Leading edges are usually circular having a leading
not more than once normally in the inner sections. edge radius defined about a point on the camber line.
Typical section used for ship propeller is NACA66
Rake series with the mean line a=0.8
The displacement from the propeller plane to the
generator line in the direction of the shaft axis is The upper and lower coordinates of the profile are
called rake. The propeller rake is divided into two given as:
components: generator line rake (iG) and skew
induced rake (is) which are defined as xU = xCyU=yC+yt , xL=xCyL=yC-yt

Propeller Outlines and Areas where yC is the camber ordinate obtained from the
There are five different outlines and associated areas table, yt is the ordinate of the chosen symmetrical
of propeller in use these are: thickness distribution.
 Disc outline (area) (A0)
 Projected outline (Ap) III. METHODOLOGT
 Developed outline (AD)
 Expanded outline (AE) Step 1: Collecting information and data related to
 Swept outline (AS) spur gear
Step 2: A fully parametric model of the Rspur gear
Disc area: The area of the circle swept out by the tips is created in catia software.
of the blades of a propeller diameter. Step 3: Model obtained in Step 2 is analyzed using
Projected outline: It is the view of the propeller ANSYS 14.(APDL), to obtain stresses , strain
blade that is actually seen when the propeller is deformation strain energy etc.
viewed along the shaft centerline normal to y-z plane Step 4: Manual calculations are done.
where Z is the number of blades. rh is the hub radius Step 5: Finally, we compare the results obtained from
of the propeller. ANSYS and compared different geometry and
R is the tip radius of the propeller. material.
Developed outline: It is a helically based view, but
the pitch of each section has been reduced to zero. Calculations
The intersection of the blade with the axial cylinder is Diameter = 227.27 mm
rotated along the blade reference line into a plane Number of blades = 4
parallel to the propeller. The amount of rotation is Propeller Model = INSEAN E779A
equal to the pitch angle at every radius. Type of propeller = Controllable pitch propeller
Expanded blade outline: It is really not an outline in Material = Aluminum and CFRP
any true geometric sense at all. It is a plotting of the Total area of the circle =ΠR2
chord lengths at their correct radial stations about the =40567.113mm2
directrix. Such that the outline is constructed by Total blade area = total area of the circle X disc area
laying off at each 10.radius r, the chord length along ratio
astraight line. The outline is formed by the locus of Given disc area ratio = 0.689
the end points of the chord lines laid out in the above Total blade area =40567.113 x 0.689
manner. = 27950.66mm2
Swept Outline: This outline is swept by the leading Relation between pitch & pitch angle
and trailing edges when the propeller is rotating Formulae; pitch (p) = 2Πr x tan a

Design and Analysis of the Propeller Blade

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 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-4, Issue-2, Aprl.-2017
http://iraj.in
Where @=pitch angle and r= radius and Π
Pitch angle =120
Pitch=2 x Π x 113.635 x tan120
= 1236.66
=1237mm
Speed=(RPM/Ratio) x (pitch/c) x (1-s/100)
= [(1000/0.5) x (1237/1) x (1-0/100)
Assume Ratio=1/2; gear ratio(c)=1;slip=0
=762636 x 60/106
=45.75816km/hr
Boat speed = Vb = 45.75186/1.6093 mile/hr
= 28.4328 mile/hr
Mass flow rate/hr = total blade area* speed of the
boat
The thrust (T) is equal to the mass flow rate (m) times
the difference in the velocity (v)
T = m (Vb – Va)
Thrust = 2102.097 N

IV. DESIGN OF PROPELLER BLADEBY Fig: modelling of propeller blade

USING CATIA
V. METALLIC MATERIALS
The design of propeller blade by using CATIA V5
R16, Now we are in sketcher workbench - Draw a The most common metals used in marine propeller
circle with 60 dia – Exit workbench Extrude it with construction are aluminum, magnesium, titanium,
50 mm on both sides total 100 mm height and Create steel, and their alloys.
a point on the right plane at a distance of 30 mm from
vertical 4 mm from horizontal as, Fig Alloys: An alloy is composed of two or more metals.
The metal present in the alloy in the largest amount is
called the base metal. All other metals added to the
base metal are called alloying elements. Adding the
alloying elements may result in a change in the
properties of the base metal. For example, pure
aluminum is relatively soft and weak. However,
adding small amounts or copper, manganese, and
magnesium will increase aluminum's strength many
times. Heat treatment can increase or decrease an
Create the helix with 92 mm height and 276 pitches alloy's strength and hardness. Alloys are important to
Create the blade as shown below in Fig 5 by using the marine propeller industry. They provide materials
sweep tool, round the corners with corner tool with R with properties that pure metals do not possess.
80 and R 40 as shown below in
Extrude the rounded sketch with supports as shown NONMETALLIC MATERIALS
below in Fig 7, split it with split tool as shown below In addition to metals, various types of plastic
in materials are found in marine propeller construction.
Some of these plastics include transparent plastic,
reinforced plastic, composite, and carbon-fiber
materials.

CARBON FIBER REINFORCED PLASTIC

High-performance marine propeller requires an extra
high strength-to-weight ratio material. Fabrication of
composite materials satisfies this special requirement.
Composite materials are constructed by using several
layers of bonding materials (graphite epoxy or boron
epoxy). These materials are mechanically fastened to
Now enter into part modeling to add thickness to the conventional substructures. Another type of
blade, by using thick surface tool add the thickness 4
composite construction consists of thin graphite
mm (Fig:9), Convert fig:3 surface into solid using
epoxy skins bonded to an aluminum honeycomb core.
close surface tool Carbon fiber is extremely strong, thin fiber made by

Design and Analysis of the Propeller Blade

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 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-4, Issue-2, Aprl.-2017
http://iraj.in
heating synthetic fibers, such as rayon, until charred,
and then layering in cross sections.
Material Data
Titanium Alloy
Constants

Fig. Boundary conditions applied to the marine propeller blade

in ANSYS. Applied load=2102.1 N

Titanium Alloy > Isotropic Elasticity

Figure. Loads are applied to the marine propeller blade in

ANSYS

VII. EXPLICIT DYNAMIC ANALYSIS

Material Data: Nibral Explicit Dynamic Analysis in ANSYS-
WORKBENCH suits us to capture the physics of
short-duration events for products that undergo highly
nonlinear, transient dynamic forces. It shares the
same graphical user interface (GUI). Serving
Mechanical engineers who need to study highly
complex problems.
Vonmises-stress (Equivalent stress) is very important
stress in design this stress tells us wether the design is
safe or not.If the vonmises stress is with in the
VI. PROCEDURE OF ANALYSIS PROPELLER
Ultimate strength of the material then the design is
USING ANSYS
safe.
Meshing of Propeller Blade
The solid model is transfer to the ANSYS WORK CFRP Material Properties
BENCH software. With the required commanding the Young’s Modulus: 1160.64 Mpa
mesh is generated for the model. Generally there two Poisson’s Ratio: 0.28
types of meshes are there they are Density: 1600kg/m3
(i) Tetrahedral mesh
(ii) Hexahedral mesh
The tetrahedral mesh is a polygon consists of four
triangular faces three of them are meet at a point
called as vertex. It has 6 edges and 4 vertices. In case
of hexahedral mesh it has 12 edges and 8 vertices.
For the accuracy of the solution hexahedral gives the
exact result. In the ANSYS software the internal
command setting can be available for mesh Fig. Vonmises-Stress distribution of CFRP marine
generation. propeller blade in ANSYS.

Fig. Vonmises-Stain distribution of CFRP marine propeller

Figure. Fine meshed model of propeller blade

Design and Analysis of the Propeller Blade

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 International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, ISSN: 2394-2827 Volume-4, Issue-2, Aprl.-2017
http://iraj.in
VIII. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

Table1. Result for Dynamic Analysis

Fig. Total deformation over CFRP marine propeller blade

CFRP Material Properties

Young’s Modulus: 7300 Mpa
Poisson’s Ratio: 0.28
Density: 1800kg/m3

CONCLUSION

From the output of the static analysis and dynamic

analysis of the marine propeller, it can be concluded
that (i) the propeller is assumed as a cantilever beam
i.e., when the load applies on it then the deformation
will be formed at the free end and no deformation at
Fig. Vonmises-Stress distribution of GFRP marine propeller
the fixed end.(ii) Dynamic Analysis is carried out on
blade in ANSYS
turbine blade by varying the material for propeller
blade from CFRP to GFRP Vonmises stress is
reduced to a percentage of 31.4%.

REFERENCES

[1] Charles Dai, Stephen Hanbric, lawerence mulvihill. “A

Prototype Marine Propulusur Design Tool Using Artificial
Intelligence an Optimization Techniques name transations.
Vol 102 1994. Pp 57-69.
[2] Y.Hara, Y. Yamatogi. “Performance evaluation of composite
marine propeller for a fishing boat by fluid structure
interaction analysis” Vol 2 1999.
[3] Dunna Sridhar. “Friction Resistance calculation on ship using
CFD” Vol 11 2010
[4] J.G.Russel “use of reinforced plastics in a composite
Fig. Vonmises-Strain distribution of GFRP marine propeller
propeller blade” plastics and polymers Vol 15 2010.
blade in ANSYS
[5] Y. Seetha Rama Rao “Stress analysis of composite propeller
by using finite element analysis” Vol 4 2012.
[6] B. Sreedhar “Model analysis of composite propeller for ships
applications” Vol 2 2012.
[7] M. Suneetha “Design and analysis of surface propeller using
FEM” Vol 3 2013.
[8] Mohammed Ahamed Khan “Design and dynamic analysis on
composite propeller of ships using FEA” Vol 2 2013.
[9] M. L. Pavan Kishore “Structural analysis of NAB propeller
replaced with composite material” Vol 3 2013
[10] Aditya kolakoti, “CFD analysis of controllable pitch propeller
used in marine vehicle” Vol 2 2013.
[11] M. Vidya sagar, Dr. D Sunil “Static and dynamic analysis of
composite propeller of ships using FEA” 2013.


Fig. Total deformation over GFRP marine propeller blade in
ANSYS

Design and Analysis of the Propeller Blade

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