Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Ducted Thruster for Underwater Robots

A propulsor system applied to an underwater vehicle is vital for enhancing its stability and achieving specific motion requirements in 6-degrees of freedom (DOF), enabling the vehicle to undertake complex missions. In addition, its performance in providing higher thrust force is crucial. Therefore, a ducted thruster is evaluated through experimental tests and numerical analysis in this study. An experimental setup is introduced to reduce the water surface effect on the thruster performance. The numerical results demonstrate strong alignment with the experimental data, indicating the accuracy of both experimental setup and the applied numerical methodology. Additionally, the underlying flow characteristics and their impact on the thruster performance are investigated. This study provides insights into numerical methodologies, thruster performance and potential applications of the thruster in underwater vehicles.