Integrated Design and Realization of a Hubless Rim-driven Thruster

This paper presents the integrated design and realization of a hubless rim-driven thruster for remotely operated vehicles (ROV). The design process considers the integration of hydrodynamics, propeller design, motor design and driver design. The integration technique is particularly emphasized, where the output of the motor should match the characteristic of the propeller. Also, for such a hubless rim-driven construction, the motor is embraced within the duct, and the motor size will consequently determine the duct thickness. Therefore, the drag force due to the duct should be analyzed and calculated as a design consideration for the propeller and motor. The specifications of the thruster are determined based on the thrust requirement of the target ROV. Several types of software are used for analyses of hydrodynamics, motor magnetic field, etc, and the design information is exchanged around. The rim-driven thrust is successfully designed, and a prototype is manufactured and tested for functionality.