Achieving a High Accuracy Numerical Simulations of the Flow Around a Full Scale Ship

The hydrodynamic performance of ships may be improved by the retrofit of Energy Saving Devices (ESDs). These devices are typically seen in the aft part of the ship hull and act by lowering the ship resistance, conditioning the fluid in front of the propeller and/or recovering energy from the rotational swirl of the fluid leaving the propeller. In the case of a retrofit of an existing ship no straight forward solution exists. In order to find a beneficial design that will improve hydrodynamic performance, a successful and accurate initial assessment of the flow around a hull is of the most importance. Once the flow around the hull is scrutinized in detail, and required flow changes are determined, a ship designer can progress with designing an Energy Saving Device specifically tailored to have a desired effect. This paper presents a high quality numerical evaluation of the flow around a ship hull in the full scale using a sophisticated DES model that was successfully validated against the sea trials. The findings from the numerical analysis will identify the potential improvements in the hydrodynamic performance of the ship that could be achieved by ESD