Session: 06-15-03 Unsteady Hydrodynamics, Vibrations, Acoustics and Propulsion - III

Submission Number: 182330

Development of a Propeller Design Method Considering Performance Optimization Under Unsteady Inflow Conditions 

This paper develops a propeller design method that considers performance optimization under unsteady inflow conditions. The objective is to enhance both hydrodynamic efficiency and hydroacoustic characteristics through an integrated and systematic design framework. The proposed method combines lifting-line, lifting-surface, and boundary element methods to establish a coherent hydrodynamic analysis process for the initial design stage. A multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is employed to optimize propeller geometry, which is parameterized using B-spline curves to maintain geometric smoothness and design flexibility.
The framework is applied to propeller designs under both steady and unsteady inflow conditions. For steady inflow, the focus is on maximizing propeller efficiency and improving overall thrust performance compared with a reference design. For unsteady inflow, the method aims to minimize thrust fluctuations and suppress cavitation, vibration, and noise generation. A self-developed Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings (FW–H) acoustic model is integrated into the design loop to evaluate flow-induced noise efficiently.
The optimized propellers are validated using viscous flow simulations based on the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) method for hydrodynamics and the FW–H approach for acoustic prediction. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves improvement in both efficiency and noise reduction. This study provides a practical and flexible design tool that can guide the development of marine propellers capable of stable and quiet operation in complex unsteady inflow environments.

Presenting Author: Ching-Yeh Hsin Department of Systems Engineering and Naval Architecture, National Taiwan Ocean University

Presenting Author Biography: Ching-Yeh Hsin is an associate professore at National Taiwan Ocean University, he received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His areas of expertise include propeller design and analysis, ocean current turbine design and analysis, and marine hydrodynamics.

Authors:

Ching-Yeh Hsin Department of Systems Engineering and Naval Architecture, National Taiwan Ocean University
Po-Kai Wang Department of Systems Engineering and Naval Architecture, National Taiwan Ocean University
Tzu-Hao Yang Department of Systems Engineering and Naval Architecture, National Taiwan Ocean University
Yu-Lun Cheng Department of Systems Engineering and Naval Architecture, National Taiwan Ocean University