Dynamic analysis of composite propeller of ship using FEA

Abstract

Ships and underwater vehicles use propeller for propulsion. In general, propellers are used as propulsors and they are also used to develop significant thrust to propel the vehicle at its operational speed and RPM. The blade geometry and design are more complex involving many controlling parameters. In current years the increased need for light weight structural element with composite materials has led to use of S2 glass fabric/epoxy to propeller. The present research work is to carry out the model and static analysis of aluminium, composite material which is a combination of glass fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP) materials. The research work deals with modelling and analysing the propeller blade of an underwater vehicle for their strength. A propeller is a complex geometry which requires high end modelling software. The solid model of propeller is developed in CATIA V5 R21. Static model analysis of the propellers made of aluminium and composite materials are carried out in advanced numerical simulation systems (ANSYS). We applied thrust force at blade blend section and centrifugal force at the centre of gravity and found out Von Mises stresses, total deformation, directional deformation, principal and shear stresses of aluminium and composite propeller.