Numerical Prediction of Hydroelastic Performance of the Flexible Propeller

Abstract

In this work, the numerical method for the prediction of unsteady behavior of the flexible propeller is presented. First, we use the boundary element method based on the lifting surface theory to solve the hydrodynamic problem around the flexible propeller and employ the finite element method (FEM) program for an analysis of the structural response. The FEM is formulated with 20-node isoparametric elements for the analysis of the structural response, and then results from two different methods are well arranged through the carefully designed interface scheme. In addition, we carry out dynamic analysis of the specific flexible propeller and validate the results by comparing them with the existing numerical data.