4/26/2022

ACVs
AIR PROPULSION
• This propulsion system is used in Air Cushion
Vehicles
• The propulsion device operates in air
– Open
– Ducted ( used in small vehicles)
• ACVs are sometimes propelled by air jet systems
• Pressurised air is discharged towards the aft
through ducts

• some of the air from the air cushion is

discharged through ports at the aft so that
forward thrust is produced.
• same fan and power plant is used for
generating the air cushion and forward thrust
• The main difference of air propeller form
others is
– have wider blades than propellers
– Operate at higher rpm’s for a given vehicle speed

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Ducted Air Propellers

• Ducted propeller has a smaller diameter than an
open propeller for the same operating conditions
• Improves performance in a transverse wind
• Major advantage noise of the Ducted air
propeller is less.
• High thrust at low speed
• Provides protection to the propeller
• Disadvantage is in the form of weight of the Duct

Design Considerations
• Wind speed
• Thrust
• Hump speed
• Margins
• Minimize the diameter and weight of the
propeller

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• Ducted propeller---Outer radii can be loaded

more heavily
• Higher tip speed for propeller
• Low tip speed for Ducted propeller
• Propeller tip speed should be half the velocity
of sound which is about 330 m per sec
• From wind tunnel data KT – KQ – J coefficients

• There is a limit on the power and rpm of a

propeller of given diameter for restricting
noise to acceptable levels
• This leads to the choice of number of
propellers and the propeller diameter.
• propeller blades and the blade shape is
selected from the standard designs

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Blade design depends on two parameters:

AF - Activity factor
CLOi - blade integrated design lift coefficient

where
D = the diameter of the propeller =2R
c = chord of the section at radius r.
AF usually have values between 100 and 150

A propeller with a high activity factor tends to

have a rectangular blade outline while a
propeller with a low activity factor has a blade
outline which tapers down towards the blade tip

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blade integrated design lift coefficient is

CLO is the lift coefficient at zero angle of attack

of the blade section at radius r
• high CLOi implies that the blade sections have
a high camber
• Fixed pitch propellers have high values of CLOi

• ducts for ducted propellers have an aerofoil

cross-section
• The chord of the section being 0.3-0.5 times
the propeller diameter
• The duct inflow cone angle at leading edge -
lies between 15 and 30 degrees
• At the exit angle is 5-10 degrees
• t/c --- 0.12 to 0.18

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• rudder placed in the slipstream

• Air propellers, like marine propellers, interact with the
hull
• Flow on to the propeller is affected by the hull surface
and superstructure forward of it.
• For this wake and thrust deduction fraction to be
determined
• For propellers mounted on pylons
– Thrust deduction fraction are 0.02-0.05
• For propellers close to the hull behind superstructures
– Thrust deduction fraction are 0.04-0.08

Design Procedure
• Determine the required propeller thrust at the
critical design speed
– hump speed in a 25 knot wind with a thrust
margin of 20-50 per cent or the
– design speed with a wind of 10 knots.
• Estimating initial propeller efficiency basis of
past experience

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• Determine the delivered power

• The power loading PD/AO should be 50-75

kW/m2
• Then select the actual diameter and the
associated geometrical parameters such as
number of blades, blade area ratio, blade
section shape etc

• Calculate the propeller blade tip speed

• If required reduce the RPM
• Using the propeller characteristics of the different
standard propellers and select
– blades
– blade area ratio
– blade section shapes
– Thrust
for the highest efficiency
• Determine the performance characteristics over the
complete speed range and check that they are
satisfactory.

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