Abstract
The materials used in a ship screw propeller are commonly made with brass. The seawater corrosion and seawater cavitation of the screw propeller reduces the propulsive performance of the ship. In screw manufacturing, the corrosion rust of the screw propeller is removed through a hand grinding method. The grinding process produces dust of the heavy metals from the brass. The dust creates a poor working environment that is harmful to the health of the workers. An automatic corrosionrust removing apparatus, using a blasting method, was developed for the improvement of screw polishing conditions and its working environment. The performance of this apparatus was investigated by surface roughness, weight loss rate, hardness, electrochemical corrosion resistance, and cavitation erosion, after removing of the corrosion rust under various blasting conditions. Two medias of alumina and emery were used in this experiment. The surface roughness and hardness of the screw were improved by this apparatus. The electrochemical corrosion potential (Ecorr) and current density (Icorr) were measured by the dynamic polarization method, using a potentiostat,under the conditions of surface polishing with grinding, blasting, wire brushing, and fine sand papering. The test results prove that the new corrosion rust-removing apparatus improves the surface performance of a screw propeller.