Numerical and experimental study on hydrodynamic performance of ships advancing through different canals

Abstract

In international shipping, there are several waterways that are widely viewed as bottlenecks. Among these is the Suez Canal, where recent expansions have taken place. Although the Suez Canal has a high importance in international shipping, little research has been carried out in maximising the number of ships capable of traversing for a set period of time. The present study aims to examine hydrodynamic phenomena of ships advancing through the Suez Canal in the allowed speed range to determine the relative effects of the canal depth and /or width restrictions on the overall ship sailing performance. A rectangular canal is also included as a reference to gauge the effects of varying canal cross-section. The present study combines experimental, numerical, analytical and empirical methods for a holistic approach in calm water. As a case-study, the KCS hullform is adopted, and analysed experimentally, via Computational Fluid Dynamics, using the slender body theory, and empirical formulae. The results reveal strong coupling between the canal's cross section and all examined parameters.

Modelling the hydrodynamic effect of abrupt water depth changes on a ship travelling in restricted waters using CFD

“…The modelling of the KCS with an even keel results in a substantially different resistance values to what is recorded in Elsherbiny et al (2019), precluding the possibility of a validation study. However, using an identical set-up, the present authors validated both the resistance and wavefield in their several past studies published in different scientific journals (Elsherbiny et al, 2019a;Terziev et al, 2019Terziev et al, , 2020Tezdogan et al, 2015Tezdogan et al, , 2016b.…”

“…In this study, the k -ω model of Wilcox (2008) is used. The k -ω model provides consistently good predictions in terms of computational resources and resistance predictions, as demonstrated in recent studies (Eca and Hoekstra, 2008;Elsherbiny et al, 2020). The twoequation eddy-viscosity turbulence closure is also selected due to its seamless application to all types of meshes.…”

“…By contrast, studies have shown the fully nonlinear Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations can model the present class of problem well (Bechthold and Kastens, 2020;Elsherbiny et al, 2020;Shevchuk et al, 2016;Terziev et al, 2018;Tezdogan et al, 2016a). It is therefore prudent to attempt to construct a fully nonlinear viscous towing tank with a varying bathymetry.…”

Virtual Replica of a Towing Tank Experiment to Determine the Kelvin Half-Angle of a Ship in Restricted Water

“…Vertical ship movements, i.e., sinkage and trim, are not accounted for to reduce the complexity of the simulations. Instead, the ship's position in the x-z plane is adjusted prior to initiating the simulation according to the published results of Elsherbiny et al [23,35]. This is done in an attempt to reduce the discrepancy between the experimental results and those derived herein.…”

“…To characterise the fluid interphase, the volume of fluid (VoF) method is used [34]. Moreover, Star-CCM+ offers a high-resolution interphase-capturing (HRIC) scheme to enhance the definition of the free surface, which is employed in this study [35]. Vertical ship movements, i.e., sinkage and trim, are not accounted for to reduce the complexity of the simulations.…”