Supercavitating propeller 1

Supercavitating propeller
The supercavitating propeller is a variant of a propeller for
propulsion in water, where supercavitation is actively
employed to gain increased speed by reducing friction. They
are being used for military purposes and for high performance
boat racing vessels as well as model boat racing.
This article distinguishes a supercavitating propeller from a
subcavitating propeller running under supercavitating
conditions. In general, subcavitating propellers become less
Artist rendering of a supercavitating propeller in function
efficient when they are running under supercavitating
conditions.
The supercavitating propeller operates submerged with the entire diameter of the blade below the water line. Its
blades are wedge-shaped to force cavitation at the leading edge and to avoid water skin friction along the whole
forward face. As the cavity collapses well behind the blade, the supercavitating propeller avoids the spalling damage
due to cavitation that is a problem with conventional propellers.
An alternative to the supercavitating propeller is the surface piercing, or ventilated propeller. These propellers are
designed to intentionally cleave the water and entrain atmospheric air to fill the void, which means that the resulting
gas layer surrounding the propeller blade consists of air instead of water vapour. Less energy is thus used, and the
surface-piercing propeller generally enjoys lower drag than the supercavitating principle. The surface-piercing
propeller also has wedge-shaped blades, and propellers may be designed that can operate in both supercavitating and
surface-piercing mode.
Supercavitating propellers were developed to usefulness for very fast military vessels by Vosper & Company
The pioneer of this technology and other high speed offshore boating technologies was Albert Hickman
(1877–1957), early in the 20th century. His Sea Sled designs used a surface piercing propeller.

References
• Damned by Faint Praise [1], article in Wooden Boat about Albert Hickman
• Albert Hickman biography [2]

References
[1] http:/ / www. jhowell. com/ tng/ showsource. php?sourceID=S1180& tree=1& tngprint=1
[2] http:/ / members. fortunecity. com/ invertedvboats/ Hickman_Bio. html
Article Sources and Contributors 2

Article Sources and Contributors

Supercavitating propeller Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=544273748 Contributors: BoH, Bobo192, Cannissolis, Cramyourspam, David Woodward, Egil, Epipelagic,
GeeJo, GregorB, Hooperbloob, Mbeychok, MrBell, Octane, P33M, R'n'B, Rijkbenik, Tosaka1, Yartrebo, 6 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

Image:super cavitating.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Super_cavitating.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: P33M, 1 anonymous edits

License
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