Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Flow Around Podded Propeller in Azimuthing Conditions

This paper investigates the numerical modeling of turbulent flow and hydrodynamic analysis of podded propeller in open water and azimuthing conditions. The RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes) based solver is used in order to study the variations of hydrodynamic characteristics of podded propeller at various angles. The variations of thrust and torque coefficients as functions of the advance coefficient are obtained at various yaw angles. Turbulent flow around the propeller and pod are presented. At first, the propeller is analyzed in open water condition in absence of pod and strut. Next flow around pod and strut are simulated without effect of propellers. Finally, the whole unit is studied in zero yaw angle and azimuthing condition. These investigations are performed for two podded propulsor configurations: puller and pusher. Total forces on the unit in each direction and propeller torque are computed for a range of advance coefficients from 0.2 to 1. Yaw angle of pod are modified from +15° to −15° by increments of 5°. Computational results are examined against with available experimental data. Characteristic parameters including torque and thrust of propeller, axial force, and side force of unit are presented as functions of advance coefficient and yaw angle. The performance curves of the propeller obtained by numerical method are compared and verified by the experimental results. The results show that the propeller thrust, torque, and podded unit forces and moments in azimuthing condition depend on propeller advance coefficient and yaw angle.