Propeller design, modeling and performance simulation for an electric outboard

Abstract

Inspired by the rapid market growth of the electric vehicle, the electric outboard is becoming an increasingly popular option for boat propulsion. More and more people are choosing the electric outboard motor for its positive environmental impacts, better user experience and inexpensive operating cost. Based on this thesis, a six kilowatt pure electric outboard was developed. The propeller is one of the most important components of the outboard since it transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. An electric outboard with an optimized propeller features low energy loss. A propeller with large torque and low rotational speed is developed to exploit the full advantages of the electric motor. This thesis explains the propeller design process and optimization method in great detail. The modeling process will be introduced after determining the parameters of the propeller. Lastly, hydrodynamic mathematical model will be built and propeller performance analysis will be conducted by numerical simulation on this model based on Fluent.

Date of Award	2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology