Unlike a standard one-piece boat or aircraft

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

, a modular propeller is made up of using a number of replaceable parts, typically: * a set of matched blades; * a propeller hub; and * an end cap to retain the blades and to secure the propeller as a solid unit. G-ORIX005

Modular propellers may be fitted to aircraft as well as boats. The benefits of a modular propeller are that its specifications (such as

blade pitch Blade pitch or simply pitch refers to the angle of a blade in a fluid. The term has applications in aeronautics, shipping, and other fields. Aeronautics In aeronautics, blade pitch refers to the angle of the blades of an aircraft propeller or ...

or propeller diameter) may be altered to suit varying conditions; and it becomes much easier to replace damaged elements, such as a broken blade. Traditional one-piece propellers may be professionally modified to change the blade pitch, but this is not a common or easy option. In contrast, a modular propeller allows changes to be made quickly and easily. A modular propeller may have, for instance, a metal hub but

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...

blades. One

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

application has defined a modular propeller thus: Patent application
Stahl, B. patent 2006
/ref>

"A modular propeller comprises a center hub with an integrated front cap and an aluminum core encapsulated with fiber-reinforced composite polymer resin. A set of replaceable blades have bases that slip into and interlock with corresponding slots in the center hub. An elongated rear cap retains the blades in the center hub. The rear cap includes a nozzle section for expelling exhaust gasses that pass through the center parts of the hub and blade bases".

References

Propellers Water transport Aircraft propulsion components {{Water-transport-stub