Development of an improved and versatile 2D+t modelling methodology for planing crafts

Abstract

The availability of accurate numerical tools for predicting the energy consumption of recreational crafts is pivotal in view of reducing the environmental impact on local waters. A computationally efficient digital twin capable of accurately predicting the boat resistance is thus required to account for the energy fluxes.In the study, an improved 3-DOF (Degree-of-freedom) 2D + t approach, aimed at predicting the forward resistance of a planing craft in waves and wind conditions is developed and validated. With respect to the existing literature models, a simplified methodology to account for diffraction forces is proposed, together with a novel approach for the estimation of the transom effects on drag and lift forces. A throughout comparison of model results with literature data of different planing hulls is presented, showing the potential of the proposed methodology.The developed model was applied to a 10 m flybridge test case, also including the effects of wind resistance. To this purpose, a dedicated CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) analysis of the freeboard aerodynamics has been attained and correlations for lift and drag coefficients are proposed. In addition, the potential of the proposed methodology is shown also in terms of passenger comfort by assessing the habitability under different wave conditions.