TYPES OF RUDDERS

What is a rudder?
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• A rudder is a piece of blade installed aft in the submerged part of a ship.
Its main function is to provide directional control for vessels.
• This is achieved by deviating water flow as effectively as possible in
combination with minimum resistance.
•
• In order for ships to get to their destinations, she must be able to follow
her planned route despite the forces of winds, waves, currents and swell.
• Rudders make this possible even in today’s highly complicated steering
system.
•
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•Types of Rudders
 Unbalanced Rudder. This type of rudder has its entire blade area
behind the rudder stock or axis of rotation. ...
 Semi-Balanced Rudder. Semi-balanced rudder has less than 20% of
its blade area forward of the rudder stock. ...
 Balanced Rudder.
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• How does a rudder work?
• A rudder works by utilizing and directing the flow of water around the
hull to steer the ship.
• For the rudder to steer the ship, we must first discuss two important
forces acting on a vessel.
• They are Pivot Point and the Flow of Water.
• These two will help us understand how rudder works and why they
are positioned aft.
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• Pivot Point
• Pivot point is an imaginary spot on a ship where the vessel “turns” when
moving, maneuvering or altering course.
• Think of it like the point where the seesaw is fixed, but on ships, this
point is unstable depending on the vessel’ss movement.
• o moves aft.
• A vessel stationary on the water has its pivot point located on the middle
of the ship. When it starts to move astern, this point also moves aft.
•
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•When the vessel moves forward, the pivot point also moves
forward.
•The faster the speed, the further this point moves in that
direction.
•Installing the rudder aft creates maximum lift or turning power
since the pivot point goes forward when the vessel moves ahead.
•
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•Flow of Water
•Second force is the flow of water.
•Rudder angle parallel to the stream creates neutral force thereby doing nothing
to the vessel.
•But when a rudder is turned to a certain angle, it creates a high and low
pressure on the two sides of the rudder blade.
•
•Pressure imbalance
•High water pressure is present on the side where it is directly hit by the water
flow. Inversely, the other section has low pressure.
•Due to this imbalance, the stern turns to the low pressure side of the rudder to
equalize the unbalanced forces.
•
•
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•The stronger the flow, the greater the imbalance. Thus, the
pressure difference between the two sides is also high leading to
faster vessel response.
•This is the reason why rudders are positioned just behind the
propeller.
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•Rudder Profiles
•Rudder designs are quietly similar with each other. The most
common feature they share is the blade.
•All rudders have blade. This blade provides lift and drag that
steers the ship to her desired direction.
•
•
•
•However, rudder differs in their shape. This is noticeable when
viewed from the top or bottom.
•
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• The sectional shapes of a rudder is called rudder profile and it has effects on steering performance.
• These are the most common rudder profiles used today.
•
• Flat Plate – can be Round head or Square head.
• NACA – originally developed in the aeronautical industry. It stands for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
• HSVA – developed by Hamburg Ship Model Basin. It is designed to reduce cavitation through good pressure
distribution. It stands for Hamburgische Schiffbau Versuchsanstalt GmbH.
• IFS – also initially made by Institute für Schiffbauin Hamburg, Germany. Mainly achieves high maximum lift coefficient,
steep lift curve and large stall angle.
• Fish tail – also known as Schilling rudders. Similar to the previous profiles but with a concave part connecting the tail.
Some advanced seagoing dredgers use rudders with this profile.
• Wedge tail – similar to fish tail profile but have a sharper concave point.
• Flapped – have movable flap extension.
•
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•Parts of a rudder
•Here is a typical part of a rudder shown in the image below.
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• Balance Ratio
• Conventional rudders are classified according to the position of
rudder stock in relation to the blade area. This is called Balance Ratio
and is a very important factor in determining the performance of a
rudder.
• Balance ratio compares the blade area forward of the hinge or rudder
stock to the total area of the blade.
• The main purpose of balancing the rudder is for the steering gear to
achieve a reduction of turning torque when rudder angles are
applied.
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• Types of Rudders
• Selecting the right type of rudder for your ship is very important.
• Maneuverability of the vessel highly correlates with the rudder profile,
size and model.
• Economics must be duly considered since a vessel’s steering system has
a direct impact on fuel consumption.
• Lastly, rudders are constantly exposed to extreme forces. Making sure it
is the right kind ensures less cavitation, less stalling and longer life span.
•
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• 1. Unbalanced Rudder
• This type of rudder has its entire blade area behind the rudder stock
or axis of rotation. The leading edge, which is directly facing the
propeller, is connected to the stock.
• In an unbalanced rudder, the steering gear has to provide all the
turning torque. The blade on the other hand, is exposed to large
bending moments.
• Thus, unbalanced rudder is not widely used in modern ships but is
popular among small vessels and fishing boats.
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• 2. Semi-Balanced Rudder
• Semi-balanced rudder has less than 20% of its blade area forward of
the rudder stock.
• The stock reduces the overall stress of the blade when water pressure
is applied.
• Since a portion of it is forward of the turning axis, this part
counterbalances the force of water on the after part.
• Modern ships commonly use semi-balanced rudder as part of their
steering system.
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• 3. Balanced Rudder
• Also called fully balanced rudder, this type has 20% to 40% of its blade
area forward of the rudder stock.
• Water pressure pressure striking on the forward part of the turning
axis compensates the water force acting on the after part of the
blade.
• On some angles, it creates an equilibrium on the blade which makes
the turning torque zero. This is the reason why it is called balanced
rudder.
• Balanced rudder is perfect for conducting evasive maneuver when
being chased with pirates.
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• With that set up, steering gear system using balanced rudder can be
lighter and smaller.
•
• Other Rudder Types
• Other types of rudders use the conventional model of blade position
in relation to its turning axis.
• They are either balanced, semi-balanced or unbalanced.
• However, they differ on rudder profile, its shape and a few additional
features.
•
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• 4. Spade Rudder H3
• Spade rudder is a type of balanced rudder. The only differing factor is
the shape of the blade.
• Spade rudder’s blade is tapered starting from the root chord (top of
the blade) going to its tip chord (bottom of the blade).
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• 5. Semi-skeg Rudder
• Also known as Horn rudder, semi-skeg rudder is a semi-balanced
rudder that employs a rudder horn forward of its stock.
• It is sometimes called Mariner Rudder and we can see them on
large oil tankers including VLCCs.
• The horn is integrated to the ship’s construction providing structural
support. This enables larger rudder area possible.
• Additionally, it has less turning torque than unbalanced rudder and
less bending moments than spade rudders.
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• 6. Schilling Rudder
• This rudder has a design profile similar to Fishtail rudder except for
the added end plates on the root and tip chord.
• Even as a single-piece construction without moving parts, Schilling
rudder greatly reduces turning circles of vessels.
• Schilling rudder is developed for ships having difficulty in their
maneuverability especially during slow steaming.
•
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• Founded by German Captain Willi Becker, Becker Rudder became a

revolutionary part of today’s steering system. It is now developed
and patented by Becker Marine Systems.
• A Becker Rudder is a type of spade rudder which has a moving flap at
the trailing edge.
• The flap moves together with the main blade depending on the given
rudder command.
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• Due to the versatility of its flap, Becker Rudder can reach to more
than 65° without worrying about stalling or rudder drag. This results
in smaller turning circle and cost saving potential due to its efficiency.
• I’ve seen this type of rudder in action. Even without a tugboat, vessels
with becker rudder can move laterally into jetties.
• When I was in a tanker vessel, I saw it working like a stern thruster
during maneuvering.
•
• Today, there are many types of rudder being made. They are a
combination of the previous ones especially their rudder profiles.
• Some even have very similar build but differs on very few things.
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types of marine rudder
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•Balanced rudder (fully balanced rudder)
 There is no torque on the rudder stock at certain angles when 20% to
37% of the area is in front of the steering axis.
 At a certain angle of the rudder, it is balanced. That is, the torque is
zero to keep the rudder at that angle.
 The axis of rotation is between 0.2 L and 0.37 L
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• Semi-balanced rudder
• A rudder, a fraction of its area, less than 20%, located in front of the
steering axis
• They balance the rudder at any angle.
• Rotation shaft less than 0.2 L
• Unbalanced rudder
• A rudder with all its areas behind the steering axis.
• The rudder is balanced at any angle.
• The axis of rotation is the leading edge.
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• Construction of Rudder parts
• Modern rudders have a streamlined form and are made of steel plates, the
dimensions of which are reinforced by internal webs. With the rudder fully
fabricated, prepare a side plate and weld the vertical and horizontal stiffening
webs to this plate
• Another plate, usually called the closing plate, is then welded to the inner web
only from the outside. This can be achieved by welding the flap strips to the
web before assembling the closure plate and then slot welding the plate.
• The upper surface forms a generally horizontal flat palm that acts as a coupling
point for the rudder stock.
• There is a lifting hole on the rudder, which can realize vertical and in-line lifting
when the rudder is installed or removed. This lifting hole takes the form of a
short tube, welded through the rudder, doubled on the sides and closing plates.
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• Drain holes are provided at the bottom of the rudder for checking
water ingress when inspecting the vessel in dry dock.
• The inner surfaces are suitably coated to prevent internal corrosion,
and in some cases, the inert plastic foam maybe filled in the rudder.
• The rudder was tested at a head of 2.45 M above the top of the
rudder.
• Marine Ship Rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to
steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other
conveyance that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or
water)…