This paper presents a multidiscipline approach to propeller engineering. Surface finish is a stringent constraint for propeller blade hydrodynamic performance and leads manufacturers to add a polishing phase in the manufacturing process, therefore increasing the realization costs. A combined approach involving the definition of tool paths relevant to both domains, manufacturing and hydrodynamics, could improve the process by avoiding the polishing phase. To build such a strategy, relationships between the machined surface finish and hydrodynamic performance must be understood. A study has been carried out on the influence of roughness heights and lays on the hydrodynamic performance of bidimensional hydrofoils.
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