A new approach in engine-propeller matching

Traditional engine-propeller matching techniques are mainly based on nondimensional parameters analysis: Thrust/advance coefficient or torque/advance coefficient ratio are the most used variables to assess the ship propulsion point or to match, at each selected ship speed, the selected propeller with the ship engine. The advantages of this robust and well established procedure (standard propeller open water measures only at some pitch ratios around the design configuration, availability of large databases and extrapolation laws) however, turn into the drawbacks for the inclusion of different constraints and objectives, further than the minimum fuel consumption, in the matching algorithm. On the other hand modern numerical tools and available hardware resources let to partially substitute, in the design stage, experimental campaigns and to collect large amount of information on propeller performances, including cavitation. In this sense numerical computations make out of date approaches just developed to overcome the deficiency of experimental measures. On the basis of these numerical data new algorithms for the engine-propeller matching can be developed capable of investigate different objectives and the influence of different constraints on the traditional optimum points.