ECoProp - The Ecological Smart Composite Propeller

Flexible composite propellers promise to improve efficiency of marine propulsion systems at equal comfort and noise criteria, or to improve comfort and reduce underwater noise at equal efficiency. Furthermore, in-situ evaluation of structural response and assuring the structural integrity are of utmost importance for flexible propellers. ECoProp will develop (i) analysis tools for noise prediction and optimization techniques that can handle the larger design space of flexible propellers, and (ii) measurement techniques based on embedded network of piezoelectric sensors that can monitor hydrodynamic loads and detect damage in the propeller during operations.