HISTORY OF THE PROPELLER


The propeller concept as an element of propulsion is not new, since 400 years B.C. it begun to use elements in form of screws for moving water.

In 1752 Bernoulli suggested propelling boats, by putting vanes in a 60° axis, and since then, some modifications have been made on the propeller’s types in accordance to the innovations made to marine crafts. (Figure 1).

From the desktop of

Antonio Vazquez


Fig. 1

 Figure 2 shows the development that the propellers have presented regarding to the geometry of the blades from the year 1800 to 1880.


Fig. 2


Fig. 4

 In 1878 William Froude developed the theory of a propeller blade’s elements, which reflects the generated efforts on each section of the blade. (figure 3).

Figure 4 reflects the distribution of the generated efforts in the blades of a propeller with an ogival-section and another one with an airfoil-section

It could be considered that the development of this theory was the foundation for developing several types of propellers used in the marine area nowadays.

There are many types of propellers that have been getting better through the years, as well as the materials which the propellers are manufactured with. These materials are:  Stainless Steel and Bronze, which have a very high resistance to corrosion.

Some of the propeller’s types designed in the last few years are presented next in three different Bronze Alloys

NOVA DUCTED

IN

MANGANESE BRONZE

NOVA DUCTED

IN

ALUMINUM BRONZE

NOVA FREE

IN

AQUALLOY BRONZE


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