HélCo project : an innovative project to design a composite propeller

Large ships are propelled by propellers, most of which are made of metallic materials. Shipbuilders and naval architects are also interested in other materials, such as composites, as they offer a number of advantages (in particular, lightness and the ability to produce parts with mechanical properties adapted to stresses). The design of a propeller with composite blades is, however, not without its share of technical problems. A major international shipbuilder has launched a multi-year research program to develop the methodological tools needed to design, produce and test an innovative composite propeller concept.

The "HéliCo" project brought together industrial and academic experts from the technological research center of a major group, two academic laboratories and three SMEs in the shipbuilding sector. It has resulted in the development of calculation methods for sizing and analyzing the hydrodynamic and mechanical behavior of deformable load-bearing profiles, with modeling of fluid-structure interactions; the development of a system for attaching composite blades to a metal hub; the development of a manufacturing process for composite blades, using the RTM process; and the in situ validation of a small-scale thruster prototype tested on a passenger transport ship.