Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Added Resistance of Ships in Waves

Abstract

A RANS-based field method numerically predicted added resistance in regular head waves for a 14000 TEU containership (Duisburg Test Case) and a medium-size cruise ship. We concentrated our investigations on short waves. For different frequencies, we decomposed added resistance into diffraction and radiation force components, whereby diffraction forces were obtained by restraining the ship in waves and radiation forces, by prescribing the motions of the ship in calm water. In short waves, the diffraction part of total resistance was dominant as almost no ship motions were induced. In long waves, the sum of diffraction and radiation forces exceeded total resistance, i.e., the interaction of these two force components, which caused the reduction of total resistance, had to be accounted for. Predictions were compared with model test measurements. Particular emphasis was placed on the following aspects: discretization errors, frictional resistance as part of total added resistance in waves, diffraction and radiation components of added resistance in waves, and the influence of surge motion on added resistance. Investigations comprised two steps, namely, a preliminary simulation to determine calm-water resistance and a second simulation to compute total resistance in waves, always using the same grids. Added resistance was obtained by subtracting calm-water resistance from total averaged wave resistance. When frictional resistance dominated calm-water resistance, which holds for nearly all conventional ships at moderate Froude numbers, high grid densities were required in the neighborhood surrounding the hull.