A numerical study to improve honey-comb topography designed for antifouling applications

Abstract

Biofouling is a common issue faced by marine industry as having biofouling on the ship hulls increase unnecessary drag and friction which results in the increases of fuel consumption and decreases of cruising speed. Therefore, there are several antifouling approaches developed to mitigate the development of settlement of microorganism. The most environmentally friendly approach is surface modification by using foul-resistance topographies. The objective of this study is to investigate the antifouling performance based on the characteristics of the hydrodynamic variables which are the fluid velocity, wall shear stress, and shear strain rate at the surrounding of various designs of honeycomb topography surface. Three models were generated for this study which were Model 1 with an indented honeycomb structure surface, Model 2 with a protruded honeycomb structure surface, and Model 3 with a protruded honeycomb structure surface with different spacing and depth. The dimensions for Model 1 and Model 2 are the same whereas one is indenting while another one is protruding. In addition, Model 3 with different spacing and depth of protruded honeycomb structure was constructed to indicate the optimum design of honeycomb topography. The computer-aided design (CAD) model of the designs of honeycomb topography will be modelled using SolidWorks 2021. The CAD model will then be exported to ANSYS CFX simulator to determine the hydrodynamic variables of different designs of honeycomb topography. By analyzing the results of the simulation, the justification of the overall antifouling performance can be made and validated. The expected outcomes of this study would show a better antifouling performance of a protruding honeycomb topography design as compared to an indented honeycomb topography design. Other than that, the fluctuations in the hydrodynamic variables were higher for the protruded honeycomb structure model as the fluid is flow in the gaps between honeycomb structure instead of inside the honeycomb structure. Furthermore, the probability of fouling organisms being entrapped inside the honeycomb structure is eliminated by using the protruding honeycomb structure design. However, further research needs to be carried out as this study only focuses on the numerical method. The results obtained from this study can be used for future development on honeycomb topography design in antifouling applications, also helped to identify the optimum design of honeycomb topography that will improve the antifouling performance.