Design Of Integrated Motor Water-Jet Propulsor And Study On Its Application On ROV

Underwater vehicle propulsion systems can be classified into thermal power andelectrical propulsion. Base on the electrical propulsion, Integrated Motor Propulsion is created,whose volume is reduced. There are three kinds of underwater vehicle propulsion ways:counter-rotating propeller, ducted propeller and water jet propulsion. Water jet propulsionshave some advantages, including high efficiency, cavitations resistance, good maneuverabilityand dynamic positioning ability, work stability and low noise. Integrated Motor water-jetPropulsion(IMJP), which combines these advantages of the two propulsions, is a new kindunderwater vehicle propulsion way. There has been basic research on the IMJP, most ofwhich is about its applications on torpedoes and submarines, and generally the researchfocuses on heavy power propulsion. The propulsion ways of underwater robot include motorpropulsion, hydraulic propulsion, water jet propulsion and bionic propulsion. The propellermotor propulsions have disadvantages, such as big volume and cavitations, while the cost ofbionic propulsions is high.IMJP, which is applied on the sub-mini underwater robot, is researched in this paper.Low power underwater robots with IMJP are designed to reduce the volume, increase themaneuverability, increase the speed and reduce the noise.First, methods of calculating the underwater vehicle resistance are discussed in thispaper, and then resistance curve of sub-mini ROV is obtained. Based on the research of powermatching of the traditional water jet propulsion, power matching methods of the IMJP and theunderwater robot are researched, and the parameters of marching points are calculated.Secondly, designing methods of mechanical parts and electrical parts of IMJP are alsoresearched in this paper. According to the marching parameters calculated, the IMJP isdesigned. The lifting method, the streamline method and the analysis method are respectivelyapplied in the designing of propeller blade, guide vanes and motor stator of IMJP. Othermechanical parts of IMJP are designed under the principle and precondition of marching thepropeller blades, guide vanes and motor stator. Thirdly,3D modeling method of propulsions isresearched. The data points of propeller blades and guide vanes are lots and the modeling work is huge. Therefore, the mechanical modeling method is researched to reduce the work.Then, The3D model of IMJP is obtained. Lastly, the designed propulsion is numericallysimulated based on CFD, and the lift characteristic curve, the efficiency characteristic and thepower characteristic curve are obtained. The pressure and velocity field are analyzed in ratedcondition, and the simulation results agree with the expectation of the propulsion designing.