Qualification of Propeller by Experimental and Analytical Methods

The paper focuses on static and dynamic analysis of propeller blade made of Aluminium24345 material. The solid model of propeller blade and propeller are developed in CATIA V5 R20. By using this model, propeller blade was manufactured using 3Axis CNC milling machine by adopting MASTERCAM software. Qualification tests were carried out on the propeller blade of an underwater vehicle for their strength and vibration. Impact Hammer Method is employed to measure the vibrationdamping properties of Propeller blade. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis is carried out to analyze the contours of static pressure on the 5Blade propeller and the forces, moments acting on the propeller. Finite element analysis (FEA) of the blade was carried in ANSYS 15.0. Static, modal, harmonic analysis was carried out on analysis software for the modeled propeller blade and factor of safety was determined to qualify the propeller. Deformation of the propeller blade is measured using Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM).