Numerical Prediction of the Added Resistance of Ships in Waves

The added resistance in waves is computed for different ship types using two different Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Equations (RANSE) solvers, namely Comet and interFoam (OpenFOAM). Hence, the RANS equations are implicitly coupled with the non-linear equations of motions for six degrees of freedom and the solvers are extended by algorithms for mesh morphing to account for ship motions. The computational effort for these simulations is high compared to potential flow based simulations, especially for short waves. However, to understand the physics related to added resistance of ships and to investigate influencing parameters, field methods based on RANS equations may be suitable. The prediction of the added resistance in waves consists of two steps; the computations of the calm water resistance and the total resistance in waves. The discretisation errors as well as the influence of the surge motions on the added resistance are investigated. Further, the added resistance is decomposed in diffraction and radiation problems as it is commonly done in potential theory.Copyright © 2014 by ASME