Optimization of a marine contra-rotating propellers set

In this research, optimization of a marine contra-rotating propellers (CRP) set is investigated using RANS-based CFD, genetic algorithm and kriging method. The CFD tool is applied for determining the hydrodynamic performance of CRPs. The Kriging algorithm is coupled with the genetic optimization tool in order for performing the optimization process. In this paper, the performed optimization process was an iterative one. It means that, the extracted geometry of the previous step is simulated using CFD tool and the results are added to the initial population used for the next optimization step. In this way, the added points reduce the number of simulations. The obtained results presented an acceptable efficiency for the utilized algorithm as an optimization package for marine propellers.