Numerical simulation of the flow about self-propelling tanker models

A time-marching CFD simulation is performed for self-propelling ships. The flow about the hull is simulated by the finite-volume method, and the propeller action is approximated as a propeller disk for which the solution is given by a simplified propeller model. The interaction of two flow models is treated in a time-marching procedure converging towards the steady self-propelling condition. This method is applied to five tanker models, and detailed comparisons are made between the simulated results and corresponding experimental results. It is shown that the flow field in the self-propelling condition is qualitatively well reproduced in the simulation, and the estimated thrust deduction factors for the five hull forms agree well with measured ones. However, the effective wake factors are underestimated, since the Reynolds number in the simulations differs from that in the experiment.