Application Progress of Computational Fluid Dynamic Techniques for Complex Viscous Flows in Ship and Ocean Engineering

Abstract

Complex flow around floating structures is a highly nonlinear problem, and it is a typical feature in ship and ocean engineering. Traditional experimental methods and potential flow theory have limitations in predicting complex viscous flows. With the improvement of high-performance computing and the development of numerical techniques, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become increasingly powerful in predicting the complex viscous flow around floating structures. This paper reviews the recent progress in CFD techniques for numerical solutions of typical complex viscous flows in ship and ocean engineering. Applications to free-surface flows, breaking bow waves of high-speed ship, ship hull–propeller–rudder interaction, vortex-induced vibration of risers, vortex-induced motions of deep-draft platforms, and floating offshore wind turbines are discussed. Typical techniques, including volume of fluid for sharp interface, dynamic overset grid, detached eddy simulation, and fluid–structure coupling, are reviewed along with their applications. Some novel techniques, such as high-efficiency Cartesian grid method and GPU acceleration technique, are discussed in the last part as the future perspective for further enhancement of accuracy and efficiency for CFD simulations of complex flow in ship and ocean engineering.