Influence of the free surface on turbulent kinetic energy in the wake of a full ship

TL;DR

This study investigates how the free surface affects turbulent kinetic energy in a ship's wake, revealing that while integral TKE values are similar with or without the free surface, local flow structures are significantly influenced.

Contribution

The paper provides a detailed comparison of TKE in ship wake simulations with and without free surface effects, highlighting the impact on local flow structures and vortex core positions.

Findings

TKE as an integral quantity shows no significant difference with or without free surface.

Local flow structures and vortex core positions are affected by the free surface.

Enhanced mesh refinement improves simulation accuracy and agreement with experimental data.

Abstract

Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is a measure for unsteady loads and important regarding the design of e.g. propellers or energy-saving devices. While simulations are often done for a double-body, using a symmetry condition, experiments and the final product have a free surface. Simulations with and without free surface are carried out for the Japan Bulk Carrier, comparing TKE in the vortex cores. The reliability of finding the vortex centers is discussed. As the fine meshes show an unexpected trend for the TKE, a detailed investigation is done, mainly to exclude method-related drawbacks from using a hybrid URANS/ LES model. It is found that a shift in vortex-core positions distorts the results whereby the experimental center positions which are referenced are questionable. Using a fixed position for all cases improves comparability and gives a different picture. Thereupon the medium meshes were enhanced in such a way that one of the refinement boxes was extended further forward, now showing much better agreement with the fine meshes. TKE is then portrayed as integral quantity and shows no significant difference between the simulations with and without free surface. However, the structure itself is influenced by the surface in a way which alters local characteristics.