Hydrodynamic evaluation of a planing hull in calm water using RANS and Savitsky's method

Abstract

In the present case study, the hydrodynamic aspects of a planing hull were investigated using RANS method and compared with the well-known Savitsky's technique. The total resistance and the trim angle computed by RANS simulation and Savitsky's method were investigated at different volumetric Froude numbers and eventually compared with experimental results. The results show that the presented RANS simulation has an acceptable agreement with the experimental results and the computed total resistance and trim angles are approximately equal to the measured values of the previous reference. The simulation errors are less than the previously published references. The mean error percentage for resistance, trim, and sinkage are 2.77%, 9.17% and 12.01% respectively. Finally, the results of the wetted lengths computed by Savitsky's method are not as accurate as of the RANS method. A comparison between the RANS method and Savitsky's method showed that the numerical approach is more accurate and reliable than the semi-empirical method. It should be noted that each of these methods has its own strengths. That is the Savitsky's method computes the results in a short computational time, while the RANS method requires more computational time and can represent the fluid flow characteristics with more details.