Propeller cavitation is a major problem in ship operation

and the costs of repair and maintenance is high for

ship-owner. Proper design of propeller plays a very
important role in life cycle and the performance of vessel.
The use of simulation to observe various parameters that
affect cavitations can be helpful to optimize propeller
performance. This paper describe the simulation of
cavitations hydrodynamic flow of a Kaplan series, Fixed
Pitch Propeller (FPP) of a 48 meters Multipurpose Deck
Ship which operates at 11 knots. Simulation test was carried
out for laminar and turbulent flow using CFD approach to
observe cavitations occurrence at selected radius of the
propeller blade section profile at 300rpm and 600rpm. The
parameters that taken into considerations are pitch angle,
angle of attack, viscosity of sea water, operating vapour
pressure in the seawater, engine power, lift and drag vectors
of each of the blade sections, and also resultant velocity of
the fluid flow. Data were analyzed and the results of absolute
pressure versus curve length were plotted. Comparison of
performance is made and it compares well with the theory.
Thrust coefficient, KT, torque coefficient, KQ, thrust, T,
advance coefficient, J, and cavitations number, _ was
calculated to deduce efficiency and validate the model.
Recommendation for propeller optimization of the blade
area required for optimization is proposed. The study can be
use to build prototype physical model that could be
beneficial for future additional experimentation