Submersible Thruster

Submersible Thruster

 

If you are looking to design some underwater propulsion Dane from Transistor Man has completed a well documented Submersible Thruster build to get some pointers from.

The goal here is to design a submersible motor assembly that is able to accomplish the following:

  • Able to operate, submersed, up to 1 meter underwater while not transfering more than 10ml of coolant into the surrounding water per hour (not leaky)
  • Capable of delivering >5kw of motive thrust, when driven at 40v from a sensorless 3 phase motor drive.
  • Utilize a clear housing assembly to allow for easy-to-observe internal failures or leaks
  • Actively aid in cooling the motor assembly, using condutive heat transfer
  • Maintain a rotating shaft seal while operating up to 2k RPM. 
  • Design using easy to assemble, easy to reproduce components (ex: off the shelf bearing & shaft seal assemblies, waterjet aluminum)
  • Utilize a propeller designed to operate at 2k RPM without significant cavitation effects at speed*

 

Submersible Thruster Static Test 2 from Dane Kouttron on Vimeo.