A study on design of propeller blades for shaftless thruster.

Conventional marine propellers and shaft driven propellers are associated with many problems, for example: entangled dirt, cavitation, and limited machinery and debris damage - fishing nets and cables. If flotsam meets the propellers, damage to the blade edge area can occur. If it is not repaired, cavitation, clogging, and early propeller failure can occur. The removal of such impediments via a shaft-less alternative propulsion technology is being researched. In recent years, shaft-less rim driven thruster (RDT) has emerged as an appealing marine propeller in the shipping industry, as it can provide benefits over traditional ships. Decreased vibrations and sound, better on-board pleasure and propulsion efficiency, variable installation and site arrangement, low weight, and compact size are all features of propulsion systems. Furthermore, the hub-less RDT has a higher efficiency than the hub-type RDT. The hub-less RDT has high thrust, high torque, but small thrust ratio. The efficiency of the propeller decreases with the decrease in number of blades. To solve all these problems, the design and analysis of propeller blades for shaft-less thrusters is carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]