Reduction of Propeller-Induced Hull Pressure Pulses by Means of Unconventional Propeller Profile Sections

This report contains the description of a propeller design procedure incorporating the design of new blade profile sections. The aim was to optimize the propeller's cavitation behavior and to lower the propeller-induced vibration excitation in the ship's aftbody without sacrificing the propeller's efficiency or weight. After having extended the design procedure, three model propellers have been designed, built, and tested. It could be verified that the design targets have been met successfully. This progress can be used either to accept more and more unfavorable ship wake distributions without the risk of producing unduely high vibration or - in the case of a favorable ship wake distribution - to maximize the propeller efficiency to a higher degree than before.