Waterjet developers concentrate on enhanced efficiency

摘要

Although little changes in basic design, waterjet producers have been working hard to increase the efficiency of their products to better than that of conventional screw propellers, as Dag Pike reports. Most waterjets made today still follow the same basic pattern of those being offered 50 years ago. Construction materials have changed with stainless steel now being used in place of the cast or fabricated aluminium and, of course, the size of waterjets has increased enormously. The largest water jets now on offer have a diameter of 2.3m and even larger jets are on the drawing board.