Category: Marine Generation

After validation of performance of a first prototype machined in aluminium for SV GRAIN DE SAIL 2, we designed a second iteration of propeller according to bronze properties.

Since it has much more strength than aluminium, bronze alloy allows thinner blade sections and an increase in performances. It helps to reduce tip cavitation as well.

The fabrication quality was checked with 3D laser scanning method to ensure the final shape is close to the ideal one. The measured deviation on this part is typically +/- 0.3 mm but some small areas show a bit less accuracy.

We designed a large scale propeller for a hydrogenerator for the sailing cargo Grain De Sail 2.

The goal was to minimize the drag while producing the requested power and maintain a low cavitation despite the proximity of water surface

We designed the propeller geometry which was successfully tested on a transatlantic trip France –> New-York –> France.

The measured performances revealed to be very close to what was expected, even in real-life conditions with rough seas and unsteady speeds.

In 2017 we began a project to design a small wind turbine for high speed, marine environment, dedicated to racing multihulls.

The goals were to have a high efficiency propeller to minimize the drag and to be able to withstand a large range of wind speed : 15 to 60 knots.

We designed the blades with our VLM code with simply changing the fluid parameters to air and then optimized the shape with OpenFOAM.

The current design is a variable pitch propeller, made in carbon fiber.