CFD simulation for propeller performance under seaway wave condition

In ship propulsion, although it is well known from sea operation experience that propeller performance in seaway conditions is different from the performance in calm water, in current practice propeller design is still usually based on calm water conditions. It is rare to find any numerical study for propeller performance under wave condition. In Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, handling the case of a free-motion ship hull along with a rotating propeller is still difficult. This may be one of the issues to obstruct the emergence of the comprehensive CFD study for propeller performance under large ship motion conditions. In this paper, an overset grid CFD approach with the potential to resolve this difficulty is reported. A pilot study is performed for the propeller operating behind a fixed hull under wave condition in order to reveal the wave effect on propeller performance. For a ship under waves with large heave and pitch motions, numerical calculations are also performed for a bare hull case to test the capability of the overset grid CFD approach. 2010 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE).

CFD simulation for propeller performance under seaway wave condition Conference Paper