Abstract
In this paper, a numerical study is carried out to investigate the turbulent flow around a twin-skeg container ship model with rudders including propeller effects. A commercial CFD code, FLUENT is used with body forces distributed on the propeller disk to simulate the ship stem and wake flows with the propeller in operation. A multi-block, matching, structured grid system has been generated for the container ship hull with twin-skegs in consideration of rudders and body-force propeller disks. The RANS equations for incompressible fluid flows are solved numerically by using a finite volume method. For the turbulence closure, a Reynolds stress model is used in conjunction with a wall function. Computations are carried out for the bare hull as well as the hull with appendages of a twin-skeg container ship model. For the bare hull, the computational results are compared with experimental data and show generally a good agreement. For the hull with appendages, the changes of the stem flow by the rudders and the propellers have been analyzed based on the computed result since there is no experimental data available for comparison. It is found the flow incoming to the rudders has an angle of attack due to the influence of the skegs and thereby the hull surface pressure and the limiting streamlines are changed slightly by the rudders. The axial velocity of the propeller disk is found to be accelerated overall by about 35% due to the propeller operation with the rudders. The area and the magnitude of low pressure on the hull surface enlarge with the flow acceleration caused by the propeller. The propellers are found to have an effect on up to the position where the skeg begins. The propeller slipstream is disturbed strongly by the rudders and the flow is accelerated further and the transverse velocity vectors are weakened due to the flow rectifying effect of the rudder.
