2023-06-15 22:00:00
The propulsion of large ships is provided by propellers, mostly made of metallic materials. Naval builders and architects are also interested in other materials, such as composites, because they have various advantages (in particular lightness or the ability to produce parts with mechanical properties adapted to the stresses). The design of a propeller with composite blades is however not without posing many technical problems. A multi-year research program was conducted by a shipbuilder of international stature, in order to develop methodological tools for designing, producing and testing an innovative concept of thruster in composite material.
The “HéliCo” project thus mobilized industrial and academic experts from the technological research center of a large group, two academic laboratories and three SMEs in the shipbuilding sector. It resulted in the development of calculation methods allowing the dimensioning and analysis of the hydrodynamic and mechanical behavior of deformable supporting profiles, with modeling of fluid-structure interactions; the development of a system for attaching composite blades to a metal hub; the development of a manufacturing process for composite blades, with the RTM process; at validation on site of a small thruster prototype tested on a passenger ship.
Domaine : innovation, collaborative research.
Companies concerned : manufacturers (naval industry, marine energies), software publishers (scientific calculation, digital simulation, HPC), design offices (design of propulsion systems, energy recovery)
Technologies/methods involved : digital modeling, scientific calculation, finite elements, composite materials, epoxy carbon.
Sectors : mechanical constructions, naval engineering, energy production.
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