Optimization of Ship Propellers Under Consideration of the Acoustic Emission Based on Partitioned Fluid–Structure Interaction Simulations

The focus of this paper is the optimization of a ship propeller with regard to its acoustic emission, taking advantage of its flexible material. For this purpose, an optimization method is developed based on a partitioned approach for the simulation of the fluid–structure problem. A boundary element method is applied on the hydrodynamic side whilst the structural problem is solved via a finite element approximation. The approach is validated referring to the hydrodynamic performance of model propellers at different stiffness values. Two optimization approaches are applied. In the first approach, only the hydrodynamic part of the problem is simulated. The second approach considers the fully coupled fluid–structure interaction. The optimized propeller is simulated using a partially nonlinear model for sheet cavitation to evaluate the noise level. Finally, the results are compared with those of the reference propeller.