New Voith Schneider propeller blades successfully tested on sea trials

With the commissioning of the new Voith Water Tractor Baut built for the Norwegian tug operator Bukser og Berging, the improved characteristics of the new VSP blades were successfully demonstrated last December. The bollard pull was improved by 9% while the input power remains unchanged. Measurements of the bollard pull were carried out under the supervision of the Norwegian classification company DNV.

Voith Schneider propellers, and especially Voith Water Tractors (VWT), are renown in marine circles for precise, efficient and safe ship assistance. The VSP allows accurate, stepless and extremely swift thrust variations in accordance with XY coordinates. In order to improve the hydrodynamic characteristics of the VSP even further, a new generation of blades has been developed using the numeric simulation of the CFD program (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The CFD method initially serves to optimize the shape of the propeller blade while it also provides the exact loads for the structural and mechanical optimization by using the Finite Element Method (FEM).

The new blade distinguishes itself by the following characteristics:

Improved propeller blade profile

Increased, uniform profile thickness across the entire blade length

Reduced weight due to hollow spaces

Rectangular blade geometry with optimized end plates.