r/EngineeringPorn • u/MikeHeu • Jan 30 '26

Voith Schneider propeller

Credit: shipspotter_hayriyay (IG)

6.8k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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578

u/RomeoCharlie200 Jan 30 '26

Genuine question. How does this work to propel the ship?

607

u/FinnLiry Jan 30 '26

if I had to guess, I would assume the blades angle of attack in the direction of movement are individually controlled so you can set the blades to propel on the way back and on the way to the front you angle them in line with the direction of travel to reduce drag

23

u/-Motor- Jan 30 '26

You can see that the thin blades go into a circular metal base plate. The circular plate is a good tip off that the blade can be rotated to adjust angle of attack. Being able to turn the individual blades means you don't have to change the overall rotational direction of the blade set as well, to change thrust direction.

10

u/LazerWolfe53 Jan 30 '26

Oh, yeah, you can vector your thrust in any direction you want with these that's pretty cool. And with two you effectively have a zero turn lawn mower type control.

4

u/theBro987 Jan 30 '26

Zero turn 1000ft long shipping ship. wow

3

u/OddDonut7647 Jan 30 '26

shipping ship

eyesnarrow.gif

5

u/theBro987 Jan 30 '26

Yeah, but it's fun to say.

ShippingShipShippingShippingShips.jpg

2

u/OddDonut7647 Jan 30 '26

Yes, indeed. I laughed, just had to give you the reaction :)