Indian Journal of Marine Sciences

Vol. 38(3), September 2009, pp. 338-345

Design and testing of underwater thruster for SHRIMP ROV-ITB
Muljowidodo K.
1
, SaptoAdiN.
2
, Nico Prayogo
2
, and Agus Budiyono
3*

1
Mechanical Engineering Program, Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics Faculty, InstitutTeknologi Bandung (ITB). Ganesha 10,
Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
[E-mail: muljo@bdg.centrin.net.id]
2
Center for Unmanned System Studies (CentrUMS), InstitutTeknologi Bandung (ITB), Ganesha 10, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
[E-mail:sapto131@students.itb.ac.id, prayogo_nico@yahoo.co.id]
3
Department of Aerospace Information, Smart Robot Center, Konkuk University, 1 Hwayang-Dong, Seoul 143-701, Korea
[E-mail: budiyono@alum.mit.edu]
Received 26 July 2009, revised 11 September 2009
Shrimp ROV is the most recent underwater vehicle that has been developed at Center for Unmanned System Studies
(CentrUMS)-ITB. This type of vehicle is typically designed for environmental or scientific surveillance mission as well as
for Small Observation ROV with military functions. One of them is Minesweeper ROV. The present study consists the
thruster design of ITB SHRIMP-ROV as its main propulsion device. In the thruster design, we used and applied Finite
Element Analysis for calculating structural strength and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for identification of fluid
characteristic on thruster. All the testing at this stage is performed in the laboratory.
[Keywords: ROV, Surveillance, Thruster, Mine sweeper, Finite Element Analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics]
Introduction
The needs for main component of underwater
vehicle have been growing in line with increasing
demand for the underwater vehicle for various
missions. Thruster is one of the most critical
underwater technology that defines vehicle overall
performance. Thruster is commonly used as
underwater vehicles main propulsion device. It
enables the vehicle to perform desired maneuver in
horizontal (forward-backward maneuver) or vertical
axis (up and down movement). Despite its
importance, only a few papers on this subject have
been published in the literature such as Refs. [1] and
[2]. Present study comprises the design of the thruster
based on technical requirement specified for Shrimp
underwater vehicle. The efforts include all phases of
design, manufacturing and testing of the thruster as
propulsive component of the vehicle.
There are six major steps for design of this thruster.
They are enumerated as follows:
1. Determination of Technical requirement, 3D
CAD Drawing, 2. CFD Analysis for performance
prediction, 3. Finite Element Analysis for
construction strength, 4. Detail drawing and
manufacture, 5. Testing.
The best way for determination of technical
requirement is by considering the dynamics
characteristic of the vehicle, i.e. the capability of the
vehicle to perform some desired maneuver in six
degrees of freedom. After determining the technical
requirement, we can start working on 3D CAD
Drawing for candidate of propulsion device.
Specification of SHRIMP ROV ITB, detail
component shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are ROV
Surveillance Test Bed, Dimension : 600mm 610mm
740mm, Weight on air : 30 Kg, Max operating
depth : 100 msw.
The following information has been gathered from
the results of Computational Fluid Dynamics before
for Shrimp ROV:
For each mode of movement (3 knot forward
shown on Fig. 3 and 1 knot backward shown
on Fig. 4) we have used different types and con-
figurations of thrusters:
3 knot forward; For forward movement we have
used two thruster configurations. The thrust
requirement is therefore around 49.62 divided by two
for each thruster. Thus, each thruster minimum
requirement 49.62/2 = 24.81 N.
1 knot downward; Downward movement just
required one thruster. So the minimum thrust that
must produced by this thruster is approximately 35.4 N.

Author for correspondence
MULJOWIDODO et al. : DESIGN AND TESTING OF UNDERWATER THRUSTER


339
Materials and Methods
The propeller and nozzle type that has been used
for this thruster design was the modified Wagenigen
standard series ducted propeller
4
. There are Ka series
for propeller and 19A series for the Nozzle.

The geometr of Ka Series Propeller
The propellers of the K
a
series are operating in an
accelerating duct and have a wide blade tip.
Systematic series are available of four nozzles,
designated Ka3-65, Ka4-55, Ka4-70, and Ka5-75.
One of the important parameter of the duct isthe
length ratio, expressed L
d
/D, where L
d
is the length
of the duct and D is the inner diameter the duct at the
location of the propeller. The geometry of an arbitrary
duct section is shown in Fig.5. Another important
parameter is the contraction ratio, the ratio between
the inflow area and the exit area. This can also
expresses by the angle
d
of the duct section. The
third important parameter is the geometry of the duct
section, which is characterized by its maximum
thickness and maximum camber. The section of a duct
is adapted to its application, although Oosterveld
tested many duct with NACA section
5
.
A general purpose duct for application at heavy
screw loads is nozzle 19A. This is a nozzle with a
cylindrical inner side. The outside of the nozzle is
straight and the trailing edge is relatively thick. The
nozzle is practical from a view point of construction
due to its straight parts and it is strong due to its thick
tail. The profile of nozzle 19A is given in Fig. 6. The
length ratio of nozzle 19A is 0.5. The geometry of this
nozzle is given in Table 1. The percentage of the
nozzle length L. the Straight part in the outer contour
of the nozzle has been indicated with S. Nozzle
22 and 24 have a larger length ratio than nozzle 19A.
This may be attractive for cases where a very large
bollard pull is required, such as for tugs. The length
ratio of nozzle 22 and 24 is 0.8 and 1.0, respectively.
The backing characteristics of these nozzles are rather

Figure 1Detail main component of SHRIMP ROV-ITB



Figure 2 Dimension of SHRIMP ROV- ITB



Figure 3 3 knot forward CFD results of SHRIMP ROV



Figure 4 1 knot downward CFD results of SHRIMP ROV


Figure 5 The geometry of duct section
INDIAN J MAR. SCI., VOL. 38, NO.3, SEPTEMBER 2009


340
poor. The geometry of nozzle 22 and 24 can be found
from Table 1 with the proper length diameter ratio.
When bollard pull is of the almost importance not
only in ahead but also is astern direction, a more
symmetrical nozzle has to be used. The nozzle
designed for this condition is nozzle 37. Its profile is
given in Fig. 7. This Nozzle has a length
diameter ratio of 0.5. The geometrical data are given
in Table 2. The propeller used in the nozzles has a
wide blade tip. The contour is symmetrical from
0.76 R to tip. From 0.6R to the hub the leading edge is
shifted a few percent in forward direction. A sketch of
the propeller geometry is given in Fig. 8
Similarly as with the B-series the contour can
expressed as:

Z
xDxEAR r K
r c
) (
) ( =
(1)

The factor K
r
is given in Table 3, together with the
skew, the skew is given non-dimensionally as
skew/cr.
The geometry of the blade sections of the Ka-
series has been defined similarly as the geometry of
the B-series, that is with reference to the pitch line.
through the pressure side of the blade (see Fig.9).


Figure 7 Geometry of nozzle 37.



Table 2 Ordinates of nozzle 37.
x/L y inner/L y outer/L
0 18.25 -
1.25 14.66 20.72
2.5 12.8 21.07
5 10.87 20.8
7.5 8 -
10 6.34 -
15 3.87 -
20 2.17 -
25 1.1 -
30 0.48 -
40 0 -
50 0 -
60 0 -
70 0.29 -
80 0.82 -
90 1.45 -
95 1.86 -
100 2.36 6.36


Figure 6 Geometry of nozzle 19A

Table 1 Coordinate of 19A, 22 and 24 Nozzle
x/L y inner/L y outer/L
0 18.25 -
1.25 14.66 20.72
2.5 12.8 21.07
5 10.87 20.8
7.5 8 s
10 6.34 s
15 3.87 s
20 2.17 s
25 1.1 s
30 0.48 s
40 0 s
50 0 s
60 0 s
70 0.29 s
80 0.82 s
90 1.45 s
95 1.86 s
100 2.36 6.36
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The contour is again given in coordinates relative
to the location of maximum thickness, where the
maximum thickness is at 0% . The blade section are
given in Table 3 and Table 4.
The distance to the reference line is given as a
percentage of the maximum thickness t
max
. The
section geometry of the Ka series depends on the
maximum thickness t
max
and on the position of the
maximum thickness Xt
max
/cr. Table 5 consists the
maximum thickness and its position. The maximum
thickness is made non dimensional with the propeller
diameter, the position of maximum thickness is made
non dimensional with the sectional chord-length.
Similar with the B series propeller, the maximum
chamber of the Ka series is half the maximum
thickness from 0.6 R to the tip. At inner radii the
maximum chamber is reduced due to the rise of the
pressure side of the profile and the maximum
chamber can be written by :

max
max
max
2
xt K
t
f
f
(2)

the value of K
f
is given in Table 6.
The Ka series propeller has no rake. The hub
diameter of the Ka series propeller is 1/6 of the
diameter.

Approach
To know the propeller and nozzle performance
results of the modification, weve used CFD analysis
software (Fluent 6,2). The above will enable to
analysis results we could prediction of flow condition,
pressure distribution of the propeller blade, thrust and
moment requirement to rotate the propeller itself. In
order to catch the swirling phenomena and tip vortex,
we must choose the correct turbulence model for this
analysis.
The RNG k-e model on Fluent 6.2 had used to
catch the turbulence flow phenomena
6
. Turbulence
flow could be detected by fluctuation flow field. With
this fluctuation the value of momentum, energy and
species concentration are also in fluctuation state.
The RNG k-e model was derived using a rigorous
statistical technique (called renormalization group
theory)
9
. It is similar in form to the standard k-e
model, but includes the following refinements:
The RNG model has an additional term in its
equation that significantly improves the accuracy for
rapidly strained flows.
The effect of swirl on turbulence is included in the
RNG model, enhancing accuracy for swirling flows.
The RNG theory provides an analytical formula for
turbulent Prandtl numbers, while the standard k-e
model uses user-specified, constant values.
While the standard k-e model is a high-Reynolds-
number model, the RNG theory provides an
analytically-derived differential formula for effective
viscosity that accounts for low-Reynolds-number
effects. Effective use of this feature does, however,

Figure 8 Blade plan form of the Ka- series

Table 3 Suction side section geometry from position
of maximum thickness to the leading edge.
r/R 20% 40% 60% 80% 90%
0.2 97.92 90.83 77.19 55 38.75
0.3 97.63 90.06 75.62 53.02 37.87
0.4 97.22 88.89 73.61 50 34.72
0.5 96.77 87.1 70.46 45.84 30.22
0.6 96.47 85.89 68.26 43.58 28.59
0.7 96.58 86.33 69.24 45.31 30.79
0.8 96.76 87.04 70.84 48.16 34.39
0.9 97.17 88.09 72.94 51.75 38.87
1 97 88 73 52 39.25


Figure 9 Definition of blade section of Ka series.

Table 4 pressure side section geometry from position of
maximum thickness to the trailing edge.
r/R T.E 80% 60% 40% 20%
0.2 20.21 7.29 1.77 0.1 0
0.3 13.85 4.62 1.07 0 0
0.4 9.17 2.36 0.56 0 0
0.5 6.62 0.68 0.17 0 0
INDIAN J MAR. SCI., VOL. 38, NO.3, SEPTEMBER 2009


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depend on an appropriate treatment of the near-wall
region. With this preliminary design, we can
continues with the detail of thruster itself.
These features make the RNG k-e model more
accurate and reliable for a wider class of flows than
the standard k-e model.
From graphical observation on Fluent CFD
analysis we have:
Static Pressure distribution on pressure side and
suction side of propeller. Pressure increased on
pressure side and decreasing pressure on suction
side, these results can be seen on the contour
graphics. The decreasing pressure at propeller wall
still out of cavitations tendency. The minimum
pressure at operating depth still higher if compare
with water vapor pressure at 27C Celsius around
1700 Pascal.
Fluid flow pattern around propeller and nozzle,
Pressure distribution and velocity contour on
propeller and nozzle include with influenced
environment.

Results & Discussion
The thruster which has been designed has the
follow parameters:
Propeller type that have used was modified
Wagenigen Ka series propeller and 19A nozzle type;
Propeller diameter : 161 mm; Hub Diameter: 50
mm; Blade Number :5; pitch/diameter = 0,6;
Nozzle inner diameter : 163 mm; Outer Nozzle
Diameter: 220 mm; Nozzle Length: 82 mm;
Propeller Speed= 1300 rpm; Propeller Motor
Power= 400 watt
The thruster performance one from design results
and further analyzed by computational fluid dynamics
Software. 3D design results until contour of static
pressure on pressure side suction side of propellers
blades shown on Fig. 10, Fig. 11, and Fig. 12. The
propeller rotation varied at several level of speed in
order to observe produced thrust. The results of this
testing is shown in Table 7. The thruster performance
results at speed 1 and 3 knot (Table 8), shows thats
propeller design have met of SHRIMP ROV
maneuver thrust requirement. After the analysis
process, we need to validate the results by several
testing as follows: 1. Hydrostatic pressure testing
resistance, 2. Magnetic coupling Torque testing,
3. Static Bollard Pull Testing (the illustration of
testing installation shown on Fig. 13).
There are 3 steps for these testing procedures, viz:
Thruster testing without propeller (out of water),
to check motor and control with just coupling load
(for illustration see Fig. 14), Thruster testing with
propeller (out of water), to check the vibration and
mechanical load ( friction, misalignment , etc),for
illustration see Fig. 15, Thruster testing full throttle
(underwater), to check thrust, power, and speed
maximum (for illustration see Fig. 16).
With all the testing, we obtained power
requirement correlation at each rotation speed on
three different conditions above. The results are
shown on Table 9, Table 10 and Table 11
respectively. From the testing results, we can observe
the comparison between testing and simulation
results. The detail of comparison results are shown on
Table 12.
Table 5 Maximum thickness and position of maximum
thickness.
r/R t
max
/D Xt
max
/cr
0.2 0.004 0.35
0.3 0.0352 0.398
0.4 0.03 0.46
0.5 0.0245 0.491
0.6 0.019 0.5
0.7 0.0138 0.5
0.8 0.0092 0.5
0.9 0.0061 0.5
1 0.005 0.5

Table 6 Correction for maximum chamber
r/R Kf
0.2 0.287
0.3 0.183
0.4 0.115
0.5 0.072


Figure 10Hruster 3d design results.
MULJOWIDODO et al. : DESIGN AND TESTING OF UNDERWATER THRUSTER


343
Conclusion
The paper presents the design and testing phase of
the underwater thruster for the ROV Shrimp ROV
developed at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB). Both


Figure 11 Contour pressure on pressure side thruster.



Figure 12 Contour pressure on Suction side thruster.

Table 7 Variation speed, thrust and Torque of thruster.
Rotation (rpm) Thrust (N) Torque (Nm)
1300 4.34 0.1047
600 14.45 0.382
900 37.5 0.817
1300 74.4 1.56

Table 8 Variation speed, rotation, thrust and torque of analysis
results.
Advanced
Speed (knot)
Rotation speed
(rpm)
Thrust (N) Torque (Nm)
1 1300 67.19 1.25
3 1300 22.93 0.97


Figure 13 Bollard testing construction and setup schematics.



Figure 14 Thruster testing out of water.

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mechanical and electrical design aspects are properly
considered. The electrical design considerations are
expressed in terms of the specifications of the
electrical motor (power, operating speed and torque).
An appropriate electrical motor can then be identified
from this requirement. The thruster design has been
conducted by an intensive use of Computational Fluid
Dynamic (CFD) simulation. The differences between
CFD and testing results at bollard Pull conditions fall
in the range of 0 6.25% of error. The results show
that thruster design methods with CFD modeling is
effective and the approach can be used for more
general thruster design.

Acknowledgements
The work was supported by DIKTI, LPPM, and
Automation and Robotics Laboratory. The authors
would like to thank to the technical team involved in
through the design process, manufacturing and testing
of the entire thruster. The corresponding author was
supported by the MKE (Ministry of Knowledge
Economy), Korea, under the ITRC (Information
Tecnology Research Centre) support program
supervised by IITA (Insititute for Information
Technology Advancement) (IITA-20096-1090-0902-
0026).
Table 10 Testing Results of Thruster with propeller (out of
water)
Rotation Speed (rpm) Power (Watt)
300 54.288
600 105.876
900 139.986
1300 159.933

Table 11 Testing Results of Thruster complete (underwater).
Rotation Speed (rpm) Power (Watt) Thrust (N)
300 60.48 5
600 132.762 17.5
900 239.44 40
1300 393.84 75

Table 12 Testing comparison results between CFD analysis and
The real Testing.
Rotation
Speed (rpm)
Power
(Watt)
Thrust from
Testing (N)
Thrust from
CFD
simulation
(N)
Error (%)
300 60.48 4.5 4.34 3.555556
600 132.762 15 14.45 3.666667
900 293.44 40 37.5 6.25
1300 393.84 75 74.4 0.8



Figure 15Thruster testing without propeller



Figure 16Thruster complete underwater testing.

Table 9Testing results of Thruster without propeller (out of
water)
Rotation Speed (rpm) Power (Watt)
300 46.398
600 95.17
900 124.64
1300 138.92
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