Open water testing of a surface piercing propeller with varying submergence, yaw angle and inclination angle

The use of surface piercing propellers (SPPs) shows promise for high speed operation by virtually eliminating appendage drag, which can be as much as 30 percent of the total drag on a vehicle at high speeds. The scarcity of available systematic test data has made reliable performance prediction difficult. The primary objective of this research is to obtain experimental performance prediction data that can be used in SPP design. In a series of open water tests in a non-pressurized towing tank facility, force transducer measurements were taken at tip immersion ratios from 0.5 to .33, yaw angles from 0° to 30° and inclination angles from 0° to 15° over a range of advance ratios from 0.8 to 1.8. Force transducer measurements were taken for thrust, torque, side forces and moments. These results will help develop a baseline for the verification of SPP performance prediction.