Compact waterjets for high-speed ships

Abstract The article describes the development and validation of a compact waterjet propulsion system for high-speed vessels. The development was conducted in four discrete phases over a period of 4 years: Phase 1 involved studies of pump-type options for compact units; Phase 2 used advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to design the preferred pump type for a high-speed ship design; Phase 3 involved the manufacture and performance/cavitation testing of a model of the pump designed in Phase 2; and Phase 4 involved the construction and testing, in a towing tank, of a self-propelled model to determine the critical interaction effects between the hull and the waterjet inlet. Following an introduction that serves to define the challenge, the article discusses what is good and not so good about marine waterjet propulsion. It then describes the design approach, the design tools used, the testing procedures, and the validation comparison of CFD predicted and model test results. In addition, it describes the whole-ship impact of using these advanced pumps in terms of the significant improvements possible in ship speed, range or payload. The overall program was considered to be an outstanding success with the potential of having major benefits to future high-speed ships.