An Integrated Experimental and Computational Investigation into the Dynamic Loads and Free-surface Wave-Field Perturbations Induced by Head-Sea Regular Waves on a 1/8.25 Scale-Model of the R/V ATHENA

TL;DR

This study combines experimental tests and computational simulations to analyze the effects of head-sea waves on a scaled model of the R/V ATHENA, providing data for validating CFD tools and understanding wave-induced loads and surface perturbations.

Contribution

It offers new experimental and numerical data on wave-induced loads and free-surface perturbations for a scale-model of a research vessel in head-sea conditions, aiding CFD validation.

Findings

Experimental data on horizontal and vertical loads at two Froude numbers.

Quantification of wave-field perturbations from free-surface images.

Correlation between CFD predictions and experimental measurements.

Abstract

A 1/8.25 scale-model of the U.S. Navy Research Vessel ATHENA was tested in regular head-sea waves to obtain data for validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictive tools. The experiments were performed in the David Taylor Model Basin at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC). With the model towed fixed in head-seas, horizontal and vertical loads on the model were obtained at two Froude numbers, $F_r=0.25$ and $F_r=0.43$. The model was run at two conditions of head-sea wavelengths corresponding to $\lambda=2L_o$ and $\lambda=1/2L_o$ with $H/\lambda=0.03$, where $L_o$ is the length of the model and $H=2 a$ is the wave height. The wave field perturbations induced by the head-sea waves were quantified from free-surface images generated by a laser light sheet. Predictions of the horizontal and vertical loads on the model in regular head sea waves were made with the Numerical Flow Analysis (NFA) code. Numerical predictions of the wave-field perturbations were compared with the experimental data and the correlation coefficients have been computed.