A surface panel method for the analysis of hybrid contra-rotating shaft pod propulsor

The present work is devoted to the hydrodynamic performance prediction of the hybrid contra-rotating shaft pod (HCRSP) propulsors. The HCRSP propulsor is divided into two parts, a single forward propeller and a podded propulsor. For the podded propulsor, an unsteady surface panel method is developed to analyze the open water performance; also the wake model is modified according to wake flow analysis. Then a podded propulsor in uniform flow is simulated by the unsteady surface panel method and the numerical results show a good agreement with experimental data. To improve the computational efficiency and simplify the analysis of HCRSP propulsor, we present a steady surface panel method that treats the propeller and pod unit as a single unit. Numerical results of the steady surface panel method also show good agreement with experimental data. Based on this study, an iterative steady surface panel method program for the HCRSP propulsor is presented and a model test is carried out in a cavitation tunnel to verify the numerical results.