Abstract
The skin of a fast swimming shark reveals riblet structures that help reduce the shark's skin friction drag, enhancing its efficiency and speed while moving in the water. Inspired by the structure of the shark skin denticles, our team has carried out a study as an effort in improving the hydrodynamic design of marine vessels through hull design modification which was inspired by this riblet structure of shark skin denticle. Our study covers on macroscaled design modification. This is an attempt to propose an alternative for a better economical and practical modification to obtain a more optimum cruising characteristics for marine vessels. The models used for this study are constructed using computer-aided design (CAD) software, and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations are then carried out to predict the effectiveness of the hydrodynamic effects of the biomimetic shark skins on those models. Interestingly, the numerical calculated results obtained show that the presence of biomimetic shark skin implemented on the vessels give about 3.75% reduction of drag coefficient as well as reducing up to 3.89% in drag force experienced by the vessels. Theoretically, as force drag can be reduced, it can lead to a more efficient vessel with a better cruising speed. This will give better impact to shipping or marine industries around the world. However, it can be suggested that an experimental procedure is best to be conducted to verify the numerical result that has been obtained for further improvement on this research.
Highlights
Shipping industry has been a thriving industry, since the start of the industrial revolution, and it is categorized as one of the large scale economies [1]
The aim of our study is to reduce drag force exerted on the body by doing modification on the hull form through riblets which mimic the structure of the shark skin denticle
As mentioned by Pu et al, riblets help in translating the streamwise vortices that will reduce the vortex discharge and turbulence experienced at the outer layer [17]
Summary
Shipping industry has been a thriving industry, since the start of the industrial revolution, and it is categorized as one of the large scale economies [1]. Either air or fluid, is commonly encountered in practice, and it is normally responsible for numerous physical phenomenon such as hydrodynamic drag especially for immersed transportations like ships [3]. Reducing this resistance may help in improving cruising speed and reduce fuel consumption as well [3, 4]. Our focus in this study is on hull form design modification through biomimetic riblet structure of shark skin denticle as an attempt of improving the hydrodynamic design of marine vessels. Endless studies have been carried out recently as an effort upon improving performance of systems such as ship performance, duct or pump efficiency, and energy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
