Transverse Thrust

By Anoop Thomas
To start of, let us first understand the term Transverse Thrust. What is
Transverse. On a ship, anything (motion, bulkhead, force) that acts in the
athwartship direction is called Transverse. Now let’s define Thrust. Trust as we
know in Physics, is the force exerted per unit area. That means if I load 100
tons of weight spread evenly over a steel plate measuring 1m x 1m, then the
thrust on the plate is 100 tons per square meter (100 tons/m2)
Now that we’ve understood what the term means, let us move further, and find
out what Transverse Thrust means with respect to ship maneuvering.
Consider a Single Screw ship (ship with only one propeller) with a Right Hand
Fixed pitch propeller. For better understanding, let us just say a Right hand
propeller has the blades so aligned that, when the propeller turns clockwise (as
seen from the aft) the vessel will move forward. A fixed pitch means the angle
of the propeller blades cannot be changed. (The technical definition of a pitch
is the distance moved ahead during 1 rotation of the propeller.) When such a
vessel is at rest, and then starts her engines to move ahead, the propellers will
start turning clockwise. Although the propeller is located on the centre line of
the ship and with the rudder at mid-ship, you will observe that the vessel,
instead of moving ahead on the same course, will drift slightly to the port side.
In other words, you will observe that the vessel is turning to port. This turning /
swinging is called Transverse Thrust.
Now let us understand the physics behind this apparently abnormal behavior of
the ship.
We know that the pressure of the water increases as the depth increases. So it
may be said that there is a pressure gradient between the top end of the
propeller and the bottom end of the propeller. When the propeller turns, it draws
water from forward of the propeller and pushes it aft, and it is this pushing force
that is transferred onto the ship. But that is not all the propeller does. As the
blades of the propeller are at an angle (like in the case of a ceiling fan – not
horizontal and not vertical, but at an angle to the rotor), part of the energy is
transmitted abeam of the vessel.
In the illustration, when the blades of the top of the propeller turns clockwise, it
not only pushes the water astern but also to the Stbd Side. Similarly, the blades
at the bottom, push the water to the port side. If the pressure of the water was
equal at both Top and Bottom, then the force to stbd and port would have been
equal and opposite and hence would have canceled each other. However, since
there is a pressure gradient, between the top and the bottom, with the pressure
at the bottom being greater than that at the top, the pushing force exerted to the
Port (due to the bottom blades) would be greater than the force to starboard.
Therefore, the resultant is a pushing force to the Port side. This will cause the
stern of the vessel to swing to Stbd (as the propeller is attached to the stern of
the vessel). As a result, the bow will swing to Port. (See illustration)
This phenomenon happens only when the vessel begins to move.
Subsequently, as the vessel gathers speed, the Port and Stbd forces equalize
themselves and nullify this Transverse Thrust.