Systematic Propeller Optimization Using an Unsteady Boundary-Element Method

A propeller parameterization method and itsapplication to optimize a propeller geometry in an effectivewake field is presented. The parameterization isbased on an analysis of over 1,250 unique propellerdesigns in our database and can capture most (conventional)propeller shapes. An analysis of thousands ofpropellers for a reference case demonstrates a possibleimprovement of the efficiency by 3% compared to thereference propeller.