Comparative Study of Ship Resistance and Fuel Consumption between Axe Bow and Moor Deep Ram Bow using CFD Method

Abstract

Using a bulbous bow on the ship is the most common alternative way used to reduce resistance and fuel consumption. Some developments are created in terms of bow shapes to obtain the minimum shipping cost. The purpose of this study is to compare the total resistance (Rt) and specific fuel oil consumption (SFOC) in an 8000 DWT oil tanker by modifying the existing moor deep ram bow to axe bow using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and empirical Holtrop method. Based on the results, the total resistance with a moor deep ram bow design at a service speed of 12 knots is 230,8 kN, while axe bow is 221,5 kN. This is directly proportional to the fuel consumption where by using axe bow, the ship will consume 83.64 tons in a trip of 1912 nautical miles. In contrast, with existing moor deep ram bow, the fuel consumption is just a slight 0.1 % higher than axe bow and still showing a competitive performance as it is generally used in cargo vessel.