Comparative analysis of the efficiency of manual adjustable pitch propeller and fixed pitch propeller based on dual-scale coupling

Abstract In order to solve the problem of ship, engine, and propeller mismatch between the first manufacturing of a new type of ship and the long-term service of the ship, the idea of dual-scale coupling simulation is used to establish the meso-scale and macro-scale mathematical model of a manually adjustable pitch propeller. The thrust coefficient and the torque coefficient are the coupling points. A comparison calculation between the manual adjustable pitch propeller and the fixed pitch propeller is carried out on a small ship as an example. The results show that the manual adjustable pitch propeller could compensate for the efficiency deviation caused by the fixed pitch propeller design; When the ship’s resistance increases or the ship’s main engine power decays, the measures of adjusting the pitch and turning angle of the blades could effectively improve the efficiency of the propeller and the ship’s speed, which indicates that the manual adjustable propeller has better adaptability than the fixed pitch propeller.