The Effect of Propeller Pitch on Ship Propulsion

The appropriate choice of a marine engine identified by using self-propulsion model tests is compulsory, in particular with respect to the improvement of vessel performances. Numerical simulations or experimental methods provide insight into the problem of flow, where fixed pitch propellers or controllable pitch propellers are preferred. While calculation methods are time consuming and computationally demanding for both propeller types, hydrodynamic performance assessment has more workload in controllable pitch propellers. This paper aims to describe and demonstrate the practicability and effectiveness of the self-propulsion estimation (SPE) method in understanding the effect of propeller pitch on ship propulsion. Technically, the hydrostatic and geometric characteristics of the vessel and open-water propeller performances are the focal aspects that affect the self-propulsion parameters estimated by the SPE method.