CoPropel: Next-generation marine vessel propellers
Marine propellers are a complex, structural ship part that has traditionally been made off expensive, nickel-aluminium-bronze (NAB) or manganese-aluminium-bronze (MAB) alloys, in order to operate under high cyclic loading underwater and withstand high stresses due to cavitation phenomena. As such, propellers require precision machining, long production times and are very heavy to transport. These factors result in propeller prices that are typically in the hundreds of thousands of Euros, and long lead times that can result in ships being stranded, for example after an accident where the propeller is lost and a replacement required. This provides a challenge for small to medium-sized shipyards, when ships stand waiting for parts, tying up valuable space in the yard, or stocks of replacement parts need to be held in the yard for quick turnaround of vessels. The process of changing the propeller, or individual blades of NAB or MAB propellers, requires either a dry-dock to remove and replace the propeller or a specially trained group of divers to replace blades manually underwater. Besides this, a number of issues have been identified with current NAB and MAB propellers including vibration, electric signature and excess weight.
CoPropel puts forward a holistic approach for the shipping industry by introducing a composite marine propeller that offers corrosion resistance, light weight tailoring of material properties, low electric signature and acoustic properties. The project consortium seeks to contribute to the optimisation of propulsion systems by developing, and maturing, technologies for the realisation of marine propellers made of advanced composite materials. Compared to their traditional counterparts, marine composite propellers offer the following benefits:
- Quieter with low vibration – their high, damping performance absorbs vibration on the shafting, leading to reduced underwater radiated noise (URN) emissions
- More lightweight – by 50-60%, enabling a smaller shaft diameter and resulting in a smaller moment of inertia (1/4)
- More efficient and higher performing – with 12-15% lower energy consumption and reduced environmental footprint
- Stronger – offering greater resistance to fatigue enabling high reliability
- Flexible deformation (the capability of a material to deform under load or stress, then return to its original shape after the load is removed) - thereby restraining cavitation inception and resulting in reduced cavitation
The project is also expected to produce technical achievements and business opportunities for its maritime stakeholders which will result in socio-economic impacts. These include:
- Overcoming the limitations of composite materials in the maritime industry by proposing innovations in design, shipbuilding and life cycle management
- Generating a new EU market and regulatory framework to build complex marine propulsion components in composite materials, enabling a new sector in the shipbuilding industry
- Achieving relevant advances beyond the traditional methods of composite-based vessel design and production, allowing the exploitation of new solutions and procedures in the existing market
- Enhancing the competitiveness of the European shipbuilding industry, and taking advantage of existing companies that are providing composite materials solutions to other sectors such as aeronautic, automotive and wind energy
- Helping to maintain Europe’s leadership positions in high-added-value vessel design and the shipbuilding industry
- Improving safety conditions on vessels through novel inspection and maintenance concepts, and the development of long-term damage control and health monitoring systems
- Reducing the environmental impact of the maritime industry, and complying with European environmental policies regarding Gas Emissions (Directive 2012/33/EU) and Underwater Noise Impact (Directive 2008/56/EU).
Partners: University of Ioannina, The Bulgarian Ship Hydrodynamics Centre, Loiretech Ingenierie, Danaos Shipping Company Limited, MECA Group, Glafcos Marine Ltd, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore Registre International (BV) and BCC.
CoPropel has received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101056911.