Wärtsilä Fixed Pitch Propellers

Monobloc Fixed Pitch Propellers are propellers casted in a single piece with the hub and blades. Wärtsilä FP propellers can be produced to meet all requirements regarding the number and size of the blades. The FP propeller guarantees maximum efficiency and minimum noise and vibration levels thanks to tailor-made designs using the latest available technology. The Cunial® material used provides excellent casting, machining, and fatigue properties. An additional advantage is the ease of reparability. A fixed pitch propeller is the choice when optimum efficiency, reliability and robustness are required. Fixed pitch propellers are usually installed for ocean going vessels, for example:

• Container vessels
• Tankers
• Bulk carriers
• Dry cargo vessels
• Passenger liners

Each ship’s hull has its own characteristics. In order to achieve the highest possible overall efficiency of the vessel, the propeller must be perfectly matched with the engine and hull. Propeller designs are always tailored to the specific application, and for this modern design tools are utilised by a vastly experienced hydrodynamic design team.  

Wärtsilä’s hydrodynamic engineers are also specialized in high-end Fixed Pitch Propeller designs for more advanced applications, such as:

• Research vessels
• Navy vessels

These vessels commonly have typical requirements related to under water radiated noise levels.

For additional fuel savings, Wärtsilä Fixed Pitch Propellers can be equipped with Wärtsilä's fuel saving EnergoProFin propeller cap, or with Wärtsilä's optimised manoeuvring and propulsion Energopac solution. In cases where the propeller is heavily loaded, a High Performance Nozzle can be installed. OPTI Design produces even greater fuel savings by being able to thoroughly analyse the performance of both the propeller and the propeller-hull interaction. 

• The OPTI Design methodology is based on years of proven experience, during which time more than 10,000 FPP’s and 20,000 CPP’s have been produced. They are designed using the most advanced technology and state-of-the-art equipment to ensure the highest possible levels of performance and efficiency. As a result, owners and operators gain the benefits of lower operating costs and a reduced environmental footprint through less fuel consumption and fewer exhaust emissions.
• With OPTI Design the focus is on the vessel’s total propulsive efficiency, which in the end determines its fuel consumption. This propulsive efficiency depends in turn on the efficiency of the propeller and the interaction between the propeller and the vessel. This interaction is defined in the propulsion theory represented by the hull efficiency and the relative rotative efficiency.
• In the past the flow along the aft ship and the propeller were separately optimised. While the propeller flow along the vessel hull, as represented by a wake field, is always taken into account, the interaction between ship and propeller, however, was assumed not to change for different propeller designs. With modern Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools it is now possible to calculate the ship and the propeller together, and thus find the best combination.
• A further benefit is that the CFD calculations can be made for both model scale and full scale conditions. Where until now the performance was always judged using a model scale test, the CFD makes it possible to analyse the performance at full scale, which is in the end what really matters for the ship owner.