Prediction of Propeller-Induced Hull Pressure Fluctuations via a Potential-Based Method: Study of the Effects of Different Wake Alignment Methods and of the Rudder

In order to predict ship hull pressure fluctuations induced by marine propellers, a combination of several numerical schemes is used. The propeller perturbation flow is solved by the boundary element method (BEM), while the coupling between a BEM solver and a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver can efficiently predict the effective wake. Based on the BEM solution under the predicted effective wake, the propeller-induced potential on the ship hull can be evaluated. Then, a pressure-BEM solver is used to solve the diffraction pressure on the hull in order to obtain the solid boundary factor which leads to the total hull pressure. This paper briefly introduces the schemes and numerical models. To avoid numerical instability, several simplifications need to be made. The effects of these simplifications are studied, including the rudder effect and the wake alignment model effect.