Analysis and Mitigation of Cavitation in Marine Propellers

Assessment Brief: MNE4005-B – Marine Hydrodynamics

Module: MNE4005 Marine Hydrodynamics and Propulsion
Assessment Title: Assessment 1: Critical Technical Report on Cavitation Performance of Marine Propellers
Weighting: 50%
Submission Date: 27th January 2025
Word Count: 3500 words (±10%)

Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion, you will be able to:

1. Diagnose the fundamental physical mechanisms of cavitation inception and development on marine propellers.

2. Critically evaluate the interplay between propeller geometry, operational profile, and cavitation-induced performance losses.

3. Synthesise numerical and experimental data to propose a propeller design modification for cavitation mitigation.

Task:
Produce a technical report analysing the cavitation performance of a marine propeller. Your report must contain a critical evaluation, not merely a descriptive summary. The structure must include:

• A systematic explanation of cavitation dynamics relevant to a specific vessel type (e.g., container ship, naval vessel, tug).

• A critical analysis of how at least two propeller geometric parameters (e.g., skew, pitch distribution, blade area ratio) influence cavitation inception and type (e.g., tip vortex, sheet, cloud).

• An evaluation of the consequences of the identified cavitation types, focusing on two of the following: erosion damage, pressure pulse-induced vibration, noise emission, or thrust breakdown.

• A justified recommendation for a design alteration or an operational mitigation strategy to suppress the dominant cavitation type analysed.

Referencing:
Use the Harvard referencing system. Incorporate a minimum of 12 credible sources, with a majority from peer-reviewed journals published within the last six years.

Suggested Peer-Reviewed References (2019-2024)

1. Gaggero, S. (2020) ‘A RANS-based self-propulsion simulator for the optimisation of propeller blades’, Ships and Offshore Structures, 15(sup1), pp. S153-S165.

2. Taskar, B. & Yum, K.K. (2021) ‘Effect of waves on cavitation and pressure pulses of a chemical tanker’, Applied Ocean Research, 117, 102951.

3. Sun, S., Wang, C., Guo, C., Su, Y.M. & Liu, P. (2022) ‘Numerical analysis of the correlation between tip vortex cavitation and vortex dynamics around a flexible hydrofoil’, Physics of Fluids, 34(4), 047112.

4. Gaggero, S. (2023) ‘Design of Kappel propellers with reduced tip vortex cavitation’, Ocean Engineering, 286, 115568.

Analysis and Mitigation of Cavitation in Marine Propellers: Impacts on Performance, Vibration, and Erosion.