An Inverse Hull Design Problem in Optimizing the Desired Wake of a Ship

Abstract

An inverse hull design problem for optimizing the shape of the after hull based on the desired wake distribution is solved using the Levenberg-Marquardt Method (LMM) and the commercial code SHIPFLOW. The desired wake distribution on a propeller plane can be obtained by modifying the existing wake distribution of the parent ship. The surface geometry of the ship is generated using the B-spline surface method, which enables the shape of the hull to be completely specified with only a small number of parameters (i.e., the control points). The advantage of calling SHIPFLOW as a subroutine in the present inverse calculation lies in that many difficult but practical hydrodynamic problems regarding ship design can be solved under this construction. The validity of the present 3-D inverse hull design problem for the after hull of a ship is justified based on the numerical experiments. Results show that optimal hull form can always be obtained based on the required wake distributions.