A RANS-based study of the impact of rudder on the propeller characteristics for a twin-screw ship during maneuvers

Abstract

The propeller behavior of a ship is highly related to ship maneuverability and main engine safety. Especially for a twin-screw ship, the propellers exhibit complicated characteristics during ship maneuvers. In this study, the impact of rudder deflection on the propeller characteristics is investigated for a twin-screw ship during maneuvers by using CFD method. Taking the typical twin-screw ship model DTMB5415 as the study object, a series of captive model tests, including rudder force test, static drift test and rotating arm test, are simulated by using RANS method. The flow field around the stern under the maneuvering condition is visualized and analyzed by the vortex structures and constrained streamlines around the stern. The computed hydrodynamic forces acting on the propellers and rudders are compared with the available experimental data, and the effectiveness of the adopted numerical method is verified. The impact of the rudder deflection on the propeller characteristics is further discussed based on the obtained nominal wake at the propeller disk and the pressure distribution on the blades. The present paper is an extension of the previous study (Guo et al., 2020), in order to provide a deeper insight into the propeller characteristics of a twin-screw ship during maneuvers.