Studi Numerik Pengaruh Variasi Jumlah Bilah Paddle pada Paddle Wheel terhadap Performa Kapal Wisata.

Abstract

The application of paddle wheels as a boat propulsion system has become an important focus in practical research due to their operational stability for small boats and durability, especially in shallow-water operations. These operational characteristics make paddle wheels suitable for application in 8-meter tourist boats, where determining the optimal propulsion force is essential. In this study, the 12-blade configuration was selected as the baseline for evaluating propulsion performance. The objective is to analyze thrust generation and flow visualization around the paddle wheel using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in ANSYS Fluent with three-dimensional transient analysis at constant rotational speeds of 125 rpm and 250 rpm. The results showed that at 125 rpm, the paddle wheel generated an average thrust of 0.243 kN, dominated by negative fluctuations caused by backflow and vortex formation, which reduced propulsion efficiency. At 250 rpm, the average thrust increased to 0.499 kN, with fluctuations predominantly positive due to the higher blade velocity, which produced a stable jet flow and minimized the effect of recirculating vortices. Generally, an increase in paddle wheel rotational speed improved thrust performance. These findings emphasize the importance of optimizing paddle wheel speed and blade configuration for effective and stable propulsion in small tourist boats.