Rim Drives and RimDrive Technology Achievement

We've all heard of outboard rim drives. An interesting technology that clearly has a great future. However, we could not even imagine that right now one Dutch company is moving the entire industry forward! But first things first.

What is the essence of suspended rim drives?

What is a rim or rim drive electric motor? This is a kind of "engine with a hole". That “hole” is the place where you expect to see the propeller shaft and blades. A rim drive does not have a center hub or propeller shaft. Instead, the propeller blades are attached to a round outer rim—hence the name.

In a rim driven motor, this design is actually the motor itself. The pipe/tunnel/cylinder is the stator (fixed part) of the electric motor, and the propeller blades are attached to the rotor, the rotating part. It would be superfluous to call such a design “electric,” since a fossil fuel engine cannot operate in this way.

History of rim movers

The concept of this type of drive was proposed by Ludwig Korth in 1940. However, it only became commercially and technologically feasible in the early 21st century due to advances in DC motor controller technology.

Court was a German physicist. He is known for the development of the ducted propeller, or so-called. "Corta nozzles". Ludwig Kort was looking for ways to reduce engine erosion due to water turbulence as boats move. When he tried enclosing a motor propeller inside a short pipe or tunnel to reduce turbulence, he found that this also increased thrust.

RimDrive Technology

The Dutch company RimDrive Technology is the only company to offer such a wide range of outboard motors. RimDrive Technology is currently developing a 15 kilowatt (≈25 hp) model to expand its current line of 4 outboard motors. 

Among other offers of the company are 7 main sizes of motors with power from 0.5 kW to 30 kW (≈1 hp to 52 hp). So far, the company has produced only four power outboard motors - from .5kW to 11kW. What is so unusual about this company? 

One of the problems in the production of such engines is the classical problem of mechanics. With an increase in the power produced by the engine, the energy costs for this power increase. Accordingly, the dimensions of the engine itself also increase. RimDrive Technology has managed to upgrade the 11kW motor model so that it can deliver up to 15kW! And not just anyhow - the dimensions and weight of the engine have not increased. That is, we received a 15 kilowatt engine in a wrapper from a smaller model. 

The company is continuing its research and is about to launch a 15kW rim powered outboard soon. We will closely monitor how events develop in this segment of shipbuilding.

How do you like the material? Do not forget to rate - your assessment of our work is important to us. Also, do not forget about other interesting materials that are published on our website! You can find them in the section "News" or the links below.

05.03.2022