AN INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM ON HIGH-SPEED PROPULSION

Recent demands for higher speed ocean vehicles and, at the same time, for more efficient propulsion, have made the appearance of cavitation inevitable. Thus, contemporary hydrofoil or propeller blade designs mu st take advantage of controlled cavitation in order to increase the ef ficiency, of propulsion. An. International Consortium on Cavitation Pe rformance of High-Speed Propulsors has been put together by the author . The ultimate objective of this effort is to develop a new generation of reliable and user-friendly computational tools for the analysis an d systematic design of efficient cavitating hydrofoils or propulsors. Fifteen participants have joined this consortium thus far. They includ e research centers, propeller manufacturers, shipyards, and high-speed boat industries from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. An overview of the r esearch plan and the approach for some of the research tasks are prese nted.