Numerical Analysis of Scale Effect on Propeller E1619

Simulations of propeller E1619 of two models with different scales are presented using an in-house numerical code based on the solution of the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations for the purpose of analyzing the scale effect on propellers. Propeller open water performance at given advance coefficient was obtained and compared against experimental data, showing good agreement. In aspect of CFD results, scale effect is not obvious. ITTC’78 Performance Prediction Method is applied to correct both experimental and computational open water performance of model 1. Computational K_T of model 2 and corrected K_T of model 1 agrees well, but the difference between computational K_Q of model 2 and corrected K_Q of model 1 is not neglectable. The locations of the tip vortex core of the two models are similar to each other, and so is the pressure and fluid velocity distribution. The absolute value of pressure on the blades of the smaller model is higher than the bigger model. The fluid axial velocity around the smaller model is higher than the bigger model.