The concept of the barrel propeller, based on the article published by Campbell-Roddis (2016) is introduced through the use of CFD simulations.
The aim here is to provide a review into the potential utilization of the barrel propeller in the industry, by measurement of thrust & velocity output and comparing it with conventional propellers. An initial design is created using SOLIDWORKS, design references were obtained based on the Voith Schneider propeller (VSP), since both shared similarities. Using the realizable k-epsilon (κ-ε) turbulence model and basic discretization schemes, simulations are conducted in Fluent. Upon validating the accuracy of the simulation through an iterative study by monitoring convergence, a parametric study and performance comparison were conducted to understand the versatility and general performance of the propeller. By increasing the blade number, an increase in thrust and velocity was observed till saturation. Comparable values of thrust and velocity were obtained at different rpm. At this stage the design and simulations have proven that the barrel propeller is feasible concept, and serves as a reference for future works.
