In this study, the progress of surface crack and high cycle fatigue of the
surface piercing propellers (SPPs) are investigated numerically using the
finite element method. The cyclic load is calculated from the hydrodynamic
pressure on the blade by simulating the fluid around the blade
using the computational fluid dynamics software STAR-CCMþ. The initial
cracks are assumed to be created near the blade root. The fatigue life is
calculated from the Paris-Erdogan equation. The results show that the
crack close to the root has a shorter life and the stresses at the crack front
depend on the blade-water interaction duration.