Coefficients of Propeller-hull Interaction in Propulsion System of Inland Waterway Vessels with Stern Tunnels

Propeller-hull interaction coefficients - the wake fraction and the thrust deduction factor - play significant role in design of propulsion system of a ship. In the case of inland waterway vessels the reliable method of predicting these coefficients in early design stage is missing. Based on the outcomes from model tests and from numerical computations the present authors show that it is difficult to determine uniquely the trends in change of wake fraction and thrust deduction factor resulting from the changes of hull form or operating conditions. Nowadays the resistance and propulsion model tests of inland waterway vessels are carried out rarely because of relatively high costs. On the other hand, the degree of development of computational methods enables’ to estimate the reliable values of interaction coefficients. The computations referred to in the present paper were carried out using the authors’ own software HPSDKS and the commercial software Ansys Fluent.