CFD analysis of stepped planing vessels

• Main Author: Kokkonen, Toni
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: KTH, Mekanik 2018
• Subjects: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); Ship hydrodynamics; Planing hull; Stepped hull; STAR-CCM+; Overset mesh; Volume of fluid (VOF); Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS); Dynamic instabilities; Engineering and Technology; Teknik och teknologier
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-250023

High speed planing hulls are currently widely used for example in recreational and emergency vessel applications. However, very little CFD research has been done for planing vessels, especially for those with stepped hulls. A validated CFD method for planing stepped hulls could be a valuable improvement for the design phase of such hulls. In this thesis, a CFD method for stepped hulls, with a primary focus on two-step hulls, is developed using STAR-CCM+. As a secondary objective, porpoising instability of two-step hulls is investigated. The simulations are divided into two parts: In the first part a method is developed and validated with existing experimental and numerical data for a simple model scale planing hull with one step. In the second part the method is applied for two two-step hulls provided with Hydrolift AS. A maximum two degrees of freedom, trim and heave, are used, as well as RANS based k-w SST turbulence model and Volume of Fluid (VOF) as a free surface model. The results for the one-step hull mostly corresponded well with the validation data. For the two-step hulls, validation data did not exists and they were first simulated with a fixed trim and sinkage and compered between each other. In the simulations with free trim and heave both hulls experienced unstable porpoising behavior.