POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH 2 (110) 2021 Vol. 28; pp.

54-62
10.2478/pomr-2021-0021

BLADE CUP METHOD FOR CAVITATION REDUCTION

IN MARINE PROPELLERS

M. Burak Samsul
Istanbul Technical University, Türkiye

* Corresponding author: samsul@itu.edu.tr (M.B. Samsul)

ABSTRACT

Energy efficiency has become more important in every industry and daily life. Designing and building a more efficient
marine vehicle can lead to lower fuel consumption and a longer lifetime for the components of the vehicle.
Erosion caused by cavitation reduces the service life of the propeller and the related components in the propulsion and
maneuvering system. Reducing cavitation leads to a longer life for these components. This paper aims to explain and
investigate propeller blade cup as a cavitation reduction method for marine propellers. A cavitating no-cup propeller
is created and analyzed then the cupped version of this propeller is generated and analyzed to compare with the no-cup
propeller. Cavitation results of these propellers are investigated. In addition, the thrust, torque, and efficiency of the
propellers are compared.

Keywords: Marine Propeller,Computational Fluid Dynamics,Propeller Cup,Cupping,Cavitation,Propeller Efficiency,Vibration,Noise,Erosion

INTRODUCTION the project, engine power and gearbox reduction ratio can
be determined more accurately. Even hull stern shape can be
A propeller is expected to create the required thrust to optimized because the hull-induced velocity distribution has
overcome the ship resistance at a specified speed. The main a critical effect on the propeller [1] [2].
engines supply the torque to the propeller. The torque is limited For the propeller design, the most important goals are
by the engine power and rotational speed of the propeller. satisfying the speed and efficiency expectations based on the
Basic propeller design principles give the designer general operating conditions and requirements of the vessel. For some
ideas for how to design a propeller for a particular vessel. In of the design processes on marine propellers, the operating
most cases, the propulsion system and components design are conditions of the propeller may need to be forced to the
made for building a new ship. A newly designed ship provides limits. This can be a necessity for reaching the design goals.
great flexibility to the Naval Architect to modify most of the Cavitation is a critical design limit for marine propellers.
design inputs. Propeller diameter, pitch, and blade area ratio Operating in the cavitating zone leads to noise, vibration,
can be determined in the design of the propeller. Also, if the and erosion problems, which cause permanent damage to the
propeller design process is started at the very early stages of propeller and on related components [3] [4]. Also, propeller

54 POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 2/2021

performance is affected by cavitation [5]. Any propeller that provides a good opportunity to modify the peak low pressure
suffers from the mentioned problems may not be able to values on the blade.
meet the speed and comfort expectations after a while of
operation. In addition, propeller replacement may be needed
because of the damage caused by erosion on the propeller. CAVITATION
Nevertheless, in some cases, propeller design may have more
strict limitations and challenges. For instance, the propeller Cavitation is a fluid mechanics phenomenon that can
diameter can be limited because of the hull geometry. The occur whenever a liquid is used in a machine, inducing
shaft angle may create diameter restrictions to the propeller pressure and velocity fluctuations in the fluid. Where the
coming from shaft installation restrictions on the boat. In pressure is significantly low due to the high local velocities,
order to meet the speed expectations, the propeller may be the fluid phase changes from liquid to vapor, which causes
forced to work in cavitating conditions. Propeller section the cavitation to occur.
modification can be the only option to eliminate the cavitation If cavitation inception is investigated at a point A, the local
while satisfying the speed and efficiency requirements if all of pressure of the point is defined by Pa, then;
the mentioned limitations and difficulties are considered [6].
Blade pitch increment is an option to create more thrust ܲ଴ െ ܲ஺ ܲ଴ െ ܲ௏
if the diameter is not able to be increased. It is well-known ܲ஺ ൑ ܲ௏ Ǣ ଵ ൒ ଵ
ߩܸ ଶ ߩܸ ଶ
that increased blade pitch increases the likelihood of ଶ ଶ
creating cavitation. Cavitation reduction can be achieved
by modifying the pitch distribution on a blade starting where PA and VA are local flow pressure and velocity, Po and
from the root to the tip. High loading of the blade tips and V are the fluid pressure and velocity at the far upstream flow
unloading the midsections of the blade provide a reduction area where the flow is not affected by the geometry, in the
in sheet cavitation. However, this method leads to increased so-called infinity.
tip loading and propulsive efficiency loss [7]. By using the Bernoulli equation, a simple criterion for
In this study, cavitation reduction is achieved by not cavitation is defined as the cavitation number. σ is the
changing the shaft depth, rotational speed of the propeller, or cavitation number and CP is the non-dimensional pressure
blade area ratio of the propeller. The only modified parameter coefficient .
is the blade trailing edge shape and angle of attack of the blade.
‫ ݌‬െ ‫݌‬௏ ܲ଴ െ ܲ஺ οܲ
Blade trailing edge deflection, which is called the propeller ߪൌ ଵ ǡ ‫ܥ‬௉ ൌ ଵ ‫ܥ‬௉ ൌ െ 
ߩܸ ଶ ߩܸ ଶ ‫ݍ‬
blade cup, is a beneficial option to modify the pressure ଶ ଶ

distribution on the blade. Also, the propeller cup method οܲ οܲ

ߪ൑ Ǣ ܿܽ‫ݏݎݑܿܿ݋݊݋݅ݐܽݐ݅ݒ‬ǡ ߪ൒ Ǣ ܿܽ‫ݎݑܿܿ݋ݐ݋݊ݏ݁݋݀݊݋݅ݐܽݐ݅ݒ‬
provides the opportunity to decrease the angle of attack of ‫ݍ‬ ‫ݍ‬
the propeller, which has a significant effect on cavitation
reduction [6] [8]. The types of cavitation depend on the location on the
For this study, two propellers are created. The first is blade of the propeller and the physical appearance itself.
a no-cupped propeller and the second is the cupped version Cavitation that depends on the location on the blades are
of the first propeller, which has a decreased angle of attack. back cavitation and face cavitation. Cavitation that depends
Propeller cupping increases the effective pitch [6] [8] [9], so the on the physical appearance are tip/hub vortex cavitation, sheet
blade angle of attack is decreased in the cupped propeller in cavitation, bubble cavitation, root cavitation, propeller-hull
order to have the same effective pitch with the initial no-cup vortex cavitation, and unsteady sheet cavitation. This study
cavitating propeller. These two propellers with the same mainly examines sheet cavitation and bubble cavitation,
effective pitch provide the same open water characteristics with a focus on reducing them on the propeller. These two
if the cupping level and angle attack decrement is correctly types of cavitation are generated by low-pressure distribution
applied [8] [10]. The specified no cupped conventional on the suction side of the blades. Cavitation can occur on
propeller is a cavitating propeller. The cupped version of a ship component where the local pressures are lower than
this propeller has a blade cup on the trailing edge, and the the evaporation pressure of the water. Because of the creation
angle of attack of the blade is reduced to match the produced of high local velocities and low pressures, propellers are one
thrust [9]. of the main sources of cavitation for marine vehicles.
This paper investigates the cavitation reduction effect of There are several effects of the cavitation on the propellers,
the blade cup by the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) such as performance breakdown, noise, vibration, and
solution. In addition, previous studies in this field do not erosion. This study mainly focuses on reducing/eliminating
provide a CFD solution that examines how to modify the blade erosion by reducing the cavitation while keeping the
angle of attack of the blade for cavitation reduction [6] [8] propeller performance constant.
[10] [11]. Cupping is an effective solution to modify the
cavitation characteristic of a propeller without decreasing
its efficiency. The study shows that the cupping application

55 POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 2/2021

HOW TO REDUCE CAVITATION the blade is an option to reduce the cavitation. In addition,
cloud cavitation can be prevented or reduced by increasing
There are several methods to reduce the cavitation on tip loading and distributing the blade loads more evenly from
the propeller, such as decreasing the blade rotational speed, the maximum pitch region to the tip. The tip loading method
changing the shaft depth, anti-fouling, and pitch reduction. to reduce cavitation on the blade provides sheet cavitation
If the propeller rotation speed is reduced to create a lower reduction. However, high tip loading can also bring up tip
local speed distribution around the blade, then the local vortex cavitation and propulsive efficiency loss from the tip
pressure values are going to be increased. The increment for vortex [7].
the local pressures provides an opportunity to create higher
pressures than the vapor pressure of the water. Propeller EFFECT OF ANGLE OF ATTACK ON CAVITATION
rotational speed reduction, likewise, brings loss in thrust.
Enlarging the propeller diameter is an option to gain the lost Propellers produce thrust by creating a pressure difference
thrust back; however, physical limits may prevent application between the suction side and the thrust side of the blades.
of this solution in some cases. Increasing the pressure difference between these two faces
Increasing the depth increases hydrostatic pressure. This increases the thrust generated by the propeller. Increasing
means that cavitation occurrence risk is reduced when the the angle of attack of the blades, which means increasing the
depth of the propeller is increased. The depth-increasing pitch of the propeller, also leads to the generation of a relatively
method for cavitation reduction is not an applicable solution higher pressure difference and thrust. This additional thrust
for the specified cases defined in this paper. may be needed on a vessel that has requirements and design
Fouling leads to an increased probability for cavitation and restrictions, as mentioned in the previous section. However, as
also reduces propeller efficiency [12]. However, if a propeller shown in Fig. 2, an increased angle of attack leads to cavitation
creates cavitation when it is new, this situation shows that risk on the back (suction side) of the propeller blade.
cavitation reduction should be achieved by amending the On the suction side of the blade, especially in the mid-
propeller characteristics. This study focused on the cavitation chord area, the flow velocity is at the highest level, which
reduction solutions for the propellers that are already means that peak low-pressure values are observed in this zone.
non-fouled.
For both fixed-pitch conventional propellers and
controllable pitch propellers, decreasing the angle of attack
leads to higher local pressure distribution on the suction side
of the blade. Fig. 1 shows a typical pressure distribution on
a blade section that has a positive angle of attack.

Fig. 2. Angle of attack vs. cavitation number [14]

CUPPING METHODOLOGY
Fig. 1. Typical pressure distribution on a blade section [13]

AIM OF CREATING PROPELLER CUP

In order to decrease or eliminate the cavitation,
manipulating the pitch by amending the angle of attack is For the specified cases for a boat that are defined in the
always an option. But pitch decrement is going to bring loss previous sections, there might be no opportunity to change
in thrust. If there is no available option to gain back the the propeller characteristics to avoid cavitation. However,
lost thrust, the pitch reduction application leads to loss in cavitation reduction might be needed on these specified
produced thrust. challenging cases. In these cases, reducing the rotational
Modifying the pitch distribution on an existing propeller speed or angle of attack is going to reduce or eliminate the
and creating a new blade that has the same overall pitch but cavitation as known. But applying these methods leads to
a different angle of attack distribution on the sections of thrust and efficiency losses. At this point, the propeller cup

56 POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 2/2021

is very advantageous when the propeller cavitation needs to blade chord. Because effective pitch increases with the effect
be reduced while the propeller thrust and efficiency need to of cupping, the angle of attack of the blade can be reduced to
be preserved [6]. reach the effective pitch value of the initial no-cup propeller.
The purpose of the cupping application on the blades of With the help of this, the lowest pressure value can be changed
the propeller is to spread the low pressure on the suction while keeping the total pressure difference constant, which
side of the blade to have the pressure distribution above the means keeping the thrust constant.
vapor pressure without changing the total pressure difference
between the faces of the blade. With the help of the cup CUPPING CREATION METHOD
application, local pressure values around the mid-chord are
increased where the minimum pressure values are expected There is no established and agreed methodology to create
to be observed on a conventional propeller. As a result of the a cup on the propeller blades. Different companies make
blade cup, the local pressure values around the trailing edge definitions based on their rates. However, the experiments
of the propeller are decreased compared with a no-cupped performed at the David W. Taylor Naval Ship Research and
conventional blade section [6] [8]. In addition, a blade cup is Development Center provide extensive data to examine
an anti-singing option. The anti-singing chamfer is typically the cupping and cavitation relationship, and also provide
applied to the suction side of the blade; however, there are a formulation for the cupping vs. effective pitch relationship [6].
some anti-singing edge forms that are applied to both sides In this study, blade cup definitions are made in agreement
[15]. with Hydrocomp. Fig. 4 shows the propeller diameter /cup
Fig. 3 shows the pressure distribution difference between drop ratio definition of Hydrocomp [11].
a conventional blade section and a cupped blade section.

Fig. 4. Propeller diameter vs. cup drop [11]

Fig. 3. Pressure distribution on cupped and no-cup blade sections [8] The total deflection that is given to the trailing edge of the
blade is defined as a ratio of the diameters of the propeller.
As shown on the cup drop /diameter graph, cup levels are
A propeller cup is simply the deformation of a propeller’s named as very light, light, light medium, medium, medium
trailing edge toward the pressure face. Providing an heavy, and heavy cup. All of these levels are defined as a ratio
additional camber to the blade trailing edge changes the of propeller diameters. Chord deflection is applied to start
pressure distribution along the blade’s chord length, adding from 0.9 C to 1.0 C. That means 00.9 C of the blade section
lift toward the trailing edge. Typically, there is a peak in the is the same as the original section. When a chord deflection
lift distribution around the leading half of the blade. This between 0.91.0 C is applied, propeller thrust and torque
peak lift zone is also the lowest pressure area, in general, for increased at the same advance coefficient. Then, the blade
a conventional Fixed Pitch Propeller (FPP). The main purpose angle of attack should be decreased on the applied cup version
is to create a suction side pressure distribution that is above of the propeller to match the effective pitch.
the vapor pressure at the specified condition. It is possible In the following chapters, a cavitating conventional fixed-
to eliminate/reduce the cavitation, which can be achieved pitch propeller is investigated. Then, that specified propeller
by spreading the lowest pressure values (around the peak lift is solved after applying the cup and reducing the blade angle
area on the suction side) to the blade chord. This also means of attack. This study provides an opportunity to compare
spreading the lift distribution on the chord instead of loading cavitation characteristics of two different propellers that have
it around the mid-chord zone [7]. Propeller cupping provides the same thrust, torque, and efficiency values at the same
an opportunity to modify the pressure distribution on the advance coefficient.

57 POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 2/2021

 CAVITATION REDUCTION [8]
BY CUP METHOD
where,
PEFF = effective pitch
NO CUPPED AND CUPPED PROPELLER COMPARISON PGEO = geometric (uncupped) face pitch
XCUP = trailing edge deformation (drop)
To observe the cavitation reduction capability of the blade
cup, a FPP cavitating propeller is defined by using the lifting Table 2 shows the general characteristics of the created
surface code. Once the cavitating propeller is obtained and no-cup and cupped propeller. The no-cup propeller has
solved at defined advance coefficients, then the cupped version a 675 mm mean pitch, which is 1.35 in terms of P/D.
of this propeller is created by following the same procedure. After applying the cup to the blades, the cupped propeller
However, the critical point of creating the cupped propeller mean pitch value should be decreased with the help of the
is to find the angle of attack decrement. The angle of attack formulation in order to match the effective pitch values of
optimization can be carried out by two tools. One is the these two propellers. In this case, the trailing edge deformation
effective pitch-geometric pitch conversion formula, which is 6.2 mm. If a 6.2 mm cup drop is applied to the blade, which
provides a very basic idea, and the second one is the lifting has a 675 mm mean pitch, the cupped blade mean pitch should
surface method. The angle of attack decrement for the cupped be decreased to 675 mm – (21 × 6.2 mm) = 544.8 mm. In this
propeller should be compatible with the applied cupping case, the cupped propeller P/D is determined to be 1.1, which
because the additional torque that is created by the cupping is equal to 550 mm.
should be adjusted by the angle of attack decrement in order As emphasized, the blade angle of attack of the cupped
to not exceed the torque of the initial no-cup propeller. After propeller should be checked with CFD, and then, final tuning
creating the propellers with the help of the lifting surface of the cup drop can be achieved.
code, sections of the propeller are converted into a 3D model. Tab. 2. No-cup and cupped propeller general characteristics
The camber distribution of the section is selected as
NACA66 for the initial conventional propeller. The NACA66 No-Cup and Cupped Propeller
camber is modified to create the determined cup deformation Diameter (mm) 500
on the blade section. To compare the cavitation characteristics, No-Cup P/D 1.35
firstly, the conventional propeller is solved with CFD for two Cupped P/D 1.1
different advance coefficients. The advance coefficients are Number of Blades 3
shown in Table 1.
Expanded Area Ratio 0.6
Tab. 1. Solution advance doefficients, inlet velocities, and propeller revolutions
Hub Diameter (mm) 100
Inlet Velocity Propeller Revolution Camber NACA66
Advance Coefficient
(m/s) (rps)
0.82 10.28 25 The sections of the no-cup and cupped propeller are
0.87 8.7 20 created according to the values shown in Table 3. The pitch
values on the table show the blade section pitches. The effective
Once the thrust and torque values are calculated for pitch of the cupped propeller is the same as the initial no-cup
the conventional no-cup cavitating propeller, the cupped propeller with the help of the cup trailing edge deformation.
version of the propeller is created. Several cupping levels are Tab. 3. No-cup and cupped propeller section details
applied on the blade and the angle of attack of the blades is
reduced relative to the cupping level of each propeller.. Pitch P/D P/D
r/R Chord / D Fmax / C Tmax / C
(No-Cup) (Cupped)
ratio (P/D) tuning is done by the lifting surface code. The
lifting surface model forms a reliable basis for designing 0.24 0.349 1.296 1.056 0.021 0.124
blade section profiles and screw propeller blades [16]. As 0.25 0.357 1.302 1.061 0.021 0.119
emphasized, thrust, torque, and efficiency results should be 0.30 0.380 1.320 1.075 0.022 0.101
the same as the initial conventional propeller. 0.40 0.420 1.347 1.098 0.023 0.078
There is a practical formulation that proposes a pitch 0.50 0.449 1.365 1.112 0.024 0.063
conversion for cupping applications [8] [10]. This formulation
0.60 0.465 1.372 1.118 0.022 0.051
does not guarantee that the effective pitch of the propeller
0.70 0.466 1.369 1.116 0.018 0.041
can be accurately found. However, the formulation provides
an accurate starting point for the CFD calculations. After 0.80 0.442 1.360 1.108 0.014 0.033
solving the cupped propeller, which is generated with the 0.90 0.373 1.344 1.095 0.010 0.026
help of the formulation, final tuning can be performed with 0.95 0.312 1.333 1.086 0.009 0.024
CFD studies. 0.98 0.245 1.326 1.080 0.008 0.025
1.00 0.124 1.320 1.076 0.012 0.042

58 POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 2/2021

 The no-cup and cupped propeller 3D files are modeled. Fig. 8 shows the computational domain dimension in terms
Fig. 5 shows the geometries of the propellers. The cup of propeller diameter.
deflection can be observed on the trailing edge of the cupped
propeller.

Fig. 5. No-cup propeller and cupped propeller view

Fig. 8. Computational domain

In Fig. 6, the blade sections of the analyzed propellers
are shown. The trailing edge deflection is defined by the
manipulation of the camber function. The blade section of The same calculation procedure and parameters are used in
the cupped propeller indicates that the cup deflection starts the analysis. The vaporization pressure is 3540 Pa, which is the
from 0.95 C of the section. same for both the no-cup and cupped propeller calculation in
order to compare the cavitation occurrence for the same depth
conditions. The K-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence
model and Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model is used for the
Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) calculations of
both propellers [17] [18]. If the cavitation of a propeller is
simulated using the RANS solver combined with the K-ω SST
turbulence model and Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model, the
Fig. 6. No-cup and cupped propeller blade sections behavior of the propeller cavitation is in good agreement with
the test results [19]. CFD calculations are performed by using
Ansys Fluent. The single-rotating-frame method is selected
The created cupped blade section has a lower angle of for the solutions. The first layer thickness of the viscous layer
attack compared with the no-cup blade section. The reason is 9 × 10-5 mm and 10 layers are applied with a stretching ratio
for decreasing the angle of attack in the cupped propeller is of 1.2. The y+ value is between 30110 on the major part of
to match the produced thrust with the no-cup propeller. The the blades, and y+ is reduced to 612 approximately around
trailing edge deflection leads to a higher flow velocity on the the roots of the blades. A 10-8 residual error for continuity and
trailing edge area and creates additional thrust [9]. However, 10-7 residual errors for x-y-z velocity, k-omega, and vf-phase-2
the lower angle of attack reduces the peak velocity around are achieved in the calculations.
the mid-chord. With the help of the cup and angle of attack Mesh sizes, which are defined as the surfaces of the
optimizations, the cupped propeller is expected to produce propeller and shaft, are shown in Table 4. The blade trailing
the same open water results while creating a reduction in edge cell size is reduced in order to create a fine mesh
cavitation. The angle of attack difference of the propellers is around the cupping area compared with the blade faces.
shown in Fig. 7. The calculation domain has a full structured hexahedral
mesh, which is created by Hexpress.
For the no-cup propeller mesh, the minimum orthogonal
quality is 0.205 and the maximum skewness is 0.795. For the
cupped propeller mesh, the minimum orthogonal quality is
0.216 and the maximum skewness is 0.784.
Tab. 4. Mesh parameters

Mesh No-Cupped Cupped

Blades 3 mm 3 mm
Blade Trailing Edge 0.3 mm 0.3 mm
Root 2 mm 2 mm
Shaft 5 mm 5 mm
Fig. 7. Angle of attack comparison Total Cell 7547218 7672828

59 POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 2/2021

 Fig. 9 shows the surface mesh view of the propeller. As ܶ ܳ ‫்ܭܬ‬
shown on the mesh parameters table, the trailing edge mesh ‫ ்ܭ‬ൌ  ǡ ‫ܭ‬ொ ൌ  ǡ ߟ଴ ൌ 
ߩ݊ଶ ‫ܦ‬ସ ߩ݊ଶ ‫ܦ‬ହ ʹߨ‫ܭ‬ொ
is finer.
Table 5 shows that the efficiency values of the defined
propellers are almost the same for the advance coefficients
where the cavitation comparison is performed.
Tab. 5. Propeller efficiency comparison

J No-Cupped Cupped
0.82 55.1% 56.6%
0.87 56.7% 56.5%

The cavity patterns of the no-cup propeller for the 0.82

and 0.87 advance coefficients, which are created by the lifting
surface, are shown in Fig. 11. The cavity patterns are expected
to be in agreement with the CFD cavitation plots.

Fig. 9. Cupped propeller cells on suction side

The calculations are performed as steady. The analyses are

solved without the vapor phase first. In this initial analyses,
which provides a converged start to cavitation calculations,
Simplec segregated solver is used. Discretization schemes are
least-square cell-based for the gradient and second-order for
pressure, momentum, turbulent kinetic energy, and specific
dissipation rate. After convergence is satisfied to 10-7 residual
error, the multiphase model is solved with Simplec solver.
The same discretization schemes are used but Presto for
pressure and Quick for volume fraction is selected additionally.
Fig. 11. Cavitation patterns of no-cup propeller at 0.82 and 0.87 advance
coefficients by the lifting surface method
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The second goal is to observe a reduction in cavitation.
Two different propellers that are working in two different Figs. 12 and 13 show the vapor fraction comparison of the
advance coefficients are solved with CFD. The calculation propellers at advance coefficients 0.82 and 0.87. For J = 0.82,
results are shown in Fig. 10 as open water curves. The KT, KQ, cavitation risk is observed starting from 0.5R of the blade to
and efficiency results indicate that one of the main goals is the tip (left). However, on the cupped version of the specified
satisfied. The first main goal is creating a cupped propeller propeller (right), only the trailing edge and the tip of the
that is producing the same thrust that can be replaced by blade generate cavitation risk. The agreement between the
the no-cup propeller without any additional revisions or lifting surface method and CFD can be noticed for the no-cup
replacements on the propulsion components of the boat. results [20].

Fig. 12. Vapor fraction comparison at J = 0.82

Fig. 10. Open water curves of no-cup and cupped propellers

60 POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 2/2021

 Compared with the 0.82 advance coefficient, 0.87 has
a lower cavitation-producing potential because of the lower
local velocities on the blades. Even having a lower rotational
speed and inlet velocity at 0.87, a vapor fraction over 0.5 can
be observed from 0.7R to the tip (left). However, the cupped
version propeller (right) almost eliminated the cavitation
occurrence. The phase change is found only on the trailing
Fig. 16. Pressure coefficient distribution at -σ = 2.59
edge area between the 0.7R and tip, as shown in Fig. 13.

CONCLUSION

Erosion is a crucial issue for marine propellers. In order to

provide a long life-time, cavitation elimination is fundamental.
As detailed in the previous sections, there are several methods
for cavitation reduction on the blades. However, all of these
mentioned methods for cavitation reduction are able to be
Fig. 13. Vapor fraction comparison at J = 0.87 applied at the initial stages of the design of the boat.
Hull speed, hull stern shape, propeller-hull clearance,
engine power, and gearbox reduction ratio should be correctly
The iso-surface plot at vapor fraction 0.5 is shown in examined. However, for the specific cases where there are solid
Fig. 14 at advance coefficient 0.87. The cupped version of the design restrictions, modifying the pressure distribution on
propeller, which has a lower blade angle of attack, creates the blade by propeller cup could be an alternative cavitation
a better cavitation characteristic at the defined advance elimination method. By virtue of the propeller cup, the
coefficient. angle of attack of the blades is reduced after determining
the cavitation distribution of the conventional propeller.
A well-optimized blade cup compensates for the lost thrust
that comes from the blade angle of attack decrement.
The total pressure difference between the low-pressure side
and the high-pressure side of the propeller is kept constant.
The critical point of the cup determination is to examine the
influence of the different cup levels on the angle of attack
alteration of the blades. Several CFD calculations should be
performed for a range of P/D values to adjust the pitch of the
cupped version of the studied cavitating propeller.
Fig. 14. 0.5 vapor fraction comparison at J = 0.87 The thrust and torque coefficients and efficiency comparison
tables for the specified cases show that a no-cup propeller can
be converted to a cupped propeller that provides the same
Figs. 15 and 16 show the pressure coeffıcient plots of the performance characteristics and has the same diameter and
propellers at advance coefficients 0.82 and 0.87. If the pressure rotational speed but a different angle of attack.
coefficient plots are checked according to the defined σ values Vapor fraction and cavitation coefficient plots indicate
in the figures, the agreement in the vapor fraction plots and a significant reduction in the cavitation occurrence on the
pressure coefficient can be observed. blades, which are found for two different advance coefficients.
Determination of the cup level and P/D modification
are the main objectives and also the main challenges.
The PEFF = PGEO +21(XCUP) formulation provides a solid starting
point and offers an opportunity to identify a range for P/D
modification [8] [10].
CFD calculations should be performed for the final
tuning of the modified (cupped) propeller. Thrust, torque,
and efficiency values should be examined attentively as well
Fig. 15. Pressure coefficient distribution at -σ = 1.85 as the cavitation results. In order to create a systematic cup
creation method, the blade pitch conversion formulation
should be tested with CFD calculations for a P/D range, which
should be the focus of future work.

61 POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 2/2021

 REFERENCES 13. E. V. Lewis, Principles of Naval Architecture, Volume II,
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Szantyr, “A Complete Design of Ship Propellers Using New
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