Effect of Ice Blockage on Cavitation and Hydrodynamic Performance of Reversing Propeller

With respect to the cavitation effect on reversing performance of propellers in the ice field, a two-way ice-breaking ship under ice blockage and cavitation occurring is studied with propeller model test and CFD numerical simulation based on RANS viscous flow. The results show that for cavitation number σ is 4.0 and 1.5, when the ice-propeller distance L / D decreases from 0.7 to 0.3, both the thrust coefficient and torque coefficient first increase and then decrease, and the cavitation coverage area increases. In the case of the advance coefficient J = 0.55 and cavitation number σ = 1.5, the reversing performance of the propeller is the worst, and when the ice-propeller distance L / D is reduced from 0.7 to 0.3, the thrust coefficient first increases from 0.141 to 0.147, then decreases to 0.137, and the torque coefficient increases from 0.023 1 to 0.023 9, and then decreases to 0.022 8. The cavitation coverage area of the blade near the ice block with L / D = 0.3 is about 3 times of that with L / D = 0.7, and the propeller wake is deflected 14 degrees under the influence of ice blockage. This study may provide technical support for the design of propellers of polar ships in the ice field. © 2022, Editorial Office of Ship Building of China. All right reserved.