PropElements
Propeller Design for Performance
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Optimize and Understand Your Propeller
HydroComp’s PropElements brings a specialist tool to a broader engineering community. PropElements is designed not only for propeller specialists and manufacturers, but for naval architects and vehicle designers as well.
Wake-Adapted Propeller Performance
PropElements provides an optimizing design stage between parametric specification and full 3D design for manufacture. It builds on the system specification of necessary propeller characteristics (such as those from NavCad) to the design or evaluate a propeller in greater detail to meet the ship mission objectives.
Many large, merchant ships utilize custom propellers and more smaller ships, yachts, and workboats also appreciate the benefits of a custom propeller. Naval architects now have a new set of technical challenges to ensure acceptable performance and compliance with design requirements. To fully take advantage of the benefits that custom or semi-custom propellers make available – or to evaluate them in service – naval architects must look to a different kind of propeller calculation. Extensive validation studies for PropElements confirm it is unmatched in calculation fidelity and workflow efficiency.
Used by/Industries
Propeller designers and builders
Naval architects and engineers
Hydrodynamicists and researchers
Propulsion system specialists
Classification societies
Add Propeller Calcs to Your Workflow
PropElements’ numerous import/export options makes it an important companion for our NavCad and PropCad software, as well as the perfect pre-processor for higher-order flow codes, CFD, and FEA. Connect the KT-KQ data to NavCad for “Aligned Series” prediction of propeller performance. Then, when the propeller design for performance has been completed with PropElements, its design for manufacture can be conducted in PropCad.
CFD-Friendly Analysis
A closely-coupled connection between a CFD code and HydroComp PropElements software offers a high-fidelity and highly-efficient alternative to an actuator disk. Using easy-to-implement capabilities for object-oriented scripting and cross-product connectivity, it is the ideal propeller performance server for integrated hull-propeller analysis with CFD.
Features
Comprehensive propeller design and analysis
Wake-adapted calculation tool for analysis or design
Support for open or ducted, hub- or rim-driven propellers
Proprietary features and calibration for quantitative accuracy
Design of optimum radial distributions
Analysis of thrust and power performance
Review of cavitation and other criteria
Blade strength using beam theory
Creation and export of KT-KQ curves
Export for CAD/CAM/CFD/FEA
Professional reports and plots
Technical Specifications
Calculation Groups
- Project
- Geometry
- Performance
- Strength
- KT-KQ
Water Types
- Fresh
- Salt
- Brackish
- Custom
Solve For
- Pitch + Camber (ideal)
- Pitch
- Thrust
Configuration
- Open FPP
- Ducted FPP
- In tunnel
Foil Definition
- Universal
- NACA 66 mod
- Bi-Circular
- Segmental
- Custom
Velocities
- Axial only
- Axial and tangential
Wake Distribution
- User entered
- From wake file
Tip and Hub Corrections
- Custom unloading
- Hub image
- Hub drag
- Rim image
Advanced Features
- Proprietary 3D corrections
- Optimum circulation
- Full wake-field prediction of induced velocities
- Scripting and use as coupled calculation server
Materials
- Mn bronze
- NiAl bronze
- St steel
- Custom
KT-KQ
- Constant speed
- Constant RPM
- Constant Rn07R
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Related Video and Tutorials
Introduction to PropElements
A quick video introduction to HydroComp PropElements, a software tool for wake-adapted propeller design and performance analysis! PropElements provides an optimizing design stage between parametric specification and full 3D design for manufacture. It builds on the system specification of necessary propeller characteristics (such as those from NavCad) to the design or evaluate a propeller in greater detail to meet the ship mission objectives.
Optimize your propeller
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