Experiences using a Coupled Viscous/Potential-Flow Unsteady Propeller Analysis Procedure

Software developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the unsteady propeller analysis and effective wake calculation has been transitioned to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division. The lifting surface propeller software is designed to be coupled with a three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes flow code. . The basic philosophy of the coupling remains the same, but the procedure for the coupling was largely revised and validated by the authors. Sample cases for the coupled lifting-surface/RANS analysis package are included in this paper and compared with experimental data. These sample cases show that this analysis procedure has great potential for the computation of propulsor maneuvering forces.