New features for improved wake-adapted propeller design and analysis

PropElements was developed not only for propeller specialists and manufacturers, but for naval architects and vehicle designers as well. It provides a key optimizing design stage between parametric specification and full 3D design for manufacture. The initial release of HydroComp PropElements 2022 offers new features across this range of applications and workflow.

Expanded workflow support for propeller CFD computations

PropElements is a valuable companion for CFD computation of propeller performance, such as for direct open-water prediction or full-ship self-propulsion simulations. The extent of supporting calculations and exports with PropElements 2022 now includes:

• Employ PropElements as a preparatory stage for design space investigations and optimization of a wake-adapted propeller.
• Use out from PropElements as benchmark thrust and torque/power figures for quality assurance review of CFD computations.
• Prepare T/Q/N or KTKQ data for definition of actuator disk performance.
• Quickly generate a propeller (see below) and export 3D CAD of a propeller.
• Extend the CAD export to include the fixed and rotating domain surfaces for a typical open-water computation in CFD.
• Export 3D CAD of standard nozzles suitable for CFD models (see below).
• Couple CFD with PropElements as a higher-fidelity alternative to an actuator disk.

Project starter

Starting a new project with PropElements has never been easier. In this newly updated utility, users can take system-level propeller data – such as parameters developed with HydroComp NavCad®, for example – and generate a full initial model of the propeller suitable for wake-adapted analysis or design. Full blade distributions and shapes can be derived from standard series (S Series, Ka Series), application-specific forms (UV thin, Ducted wide), or well-known benchmark propellers (VP1304, N4990, KP505). Each new project is then built to user-defined diameter, blade area ratio, and reference P/D values.

New nozzle CAD export utility

CAD files of nozzle geometries can be useful for a variety of purposes, from manufacture (small nozzles for UVs, for example) to CFD analysis. PropElements 2022 provides a new utility to export 3D CAD from a collection of standard nozzles styles (19A, 37, 33, 34). User-defined parameters allow for the nozzles to be scalable to any propeller diameter, as well as customized for tip clearance and nozzle L/D ratio.