Numerical Analysis of a Surface Ship in Waves

Ship's resistance and engine power to sustain ship's speed in seaways are augmented due to complex non-linear interactions between the ship and the ambient sea (waves). Ship designers, in early design stage, use an ad hoc "sea margin" to account for the effects of seaways in selecting propeller and engine. A numerical tool capable of accurately predicting added resistance and power of a ship cruising in waves would greatly help select its powering (margin) requirement and determine the optimal operating point that can maximize the energy efficiency. For seakeeping analysis, strip theory-based methods have long been used. More recently, nonlinear time-domain three-dimensional (3D) panel methods have started being used widely. A more physics-based avenue to seakeeping analysis is offered by coupled solutions of two-phase unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations and six degrees-of-freedom rigid-body motion (RBM) equations. The URANS approach also avails itself of including the effects of propulsors, either explicitly or approximately. By accounting for all the nonlinear effects in hydrodynamic forces and moments and the resulting ship motions, and the effects of fluid viscosity and turbulence, the coupled URANS-RBM method is believed not only able to predict added resistance and speed loss more accurately, but also to provide valuable insights into the physical mechanisms underlying added resistance and power. The objectives of this study are: (1) to validate a coupled URANS-RBM solver developed for high-fidelity prediction of added resistance, speed loss and added power on ships cruising in regular head sea and irregular waves, and (2) to conduct a detailed analysis of the interactions among ship hull, propeller and waves for a 1/49 scaled model of the ONR Tumblehome (ONRT) (Model 5613) in order to shed light on the physical mechanisms leading to added resistance, speed loss and added power. Figure 1 depicts the ONRT self-propellers with two 4-bladed propellers in regular waves. The main flow features such as the free surface, the hub vortices and blade-tip vortices from the propeller, as well as vortices generated by the sonar dome, shafts, shaft brackets and bilge keels are captured.