Consortium Project to Track Feasibility of Digitally Driven AM Propeller

The Digitally Enabled Efficient Propeller (D.E.E.P) concept has secured funding from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC6) to launch the Techno-Economic Feasibility Study of Manufacturing Digitally Enabled Efficient Propellers.

The D.E.E.P project will launch a new generation of marine propellers produced using advanced additive manufacturing (AM) processes, integrated with digital twin technology. The goal is to shift propellers from passive hardware into smart, cyberphysical systems capable of monitoring their performance throughout their operational life.

The project will investigate the technology readiness of various AM processes for the maritime sector, benchmark their performance against conventional casting methods, and set up a pathway towards classification approval and type certification. 

Led by Enki Marine Ltd, the consortium gathers global expertise: Stone Marine Propulsion (design and market validation), TWI (materials testing and manufacturing processes), DEEP Manufacturing Ltd (manufacturing processes and production scaling), Authentise (digital thread and AI-driven monitoring), ASTM International (standardization and certification), and Newcastle University (hydrodynamic modelling and validation).

“ENKI’s core mission is to ensure that emerging technologies are not only cutting-edge, but also safe, purpose-driven, and seamlessly integrated into the maritime sector," says Milad Armin, executive director of Enki Marine. "We are proud to collaborate with a world-leading consortium on the D.E.E.P programme, which supports our mission and will pioneer a new generation of marine propellers manufactured through advanced additive manufacturing (AM) processes and enhanced with digital twin technology."

The D.E.E.P project will commence in September 2025, with the first phase focusing on evaluating AM processes. Subsequent stages will validate the demonstrator on Newcastle University’s research vessel, with the long-term aim of enabling type approval and scaling production for commercial adoption by the global fleet.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.