CFD-based numerical simulation of the fao No. 5A fishing vessel towing test in calm water
Abstract
This study presents the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods to establish a numerical towing tank for the resistance test of the FAO No. 5a ship model. The numerical solution to solve the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations governing viscous free-surface flow around the hull is comercial code, Simerics MP and OrCA3D Marine CFD.
The study delivers two key outcomes. First, the proposed methodology for constructing a numerical towing tank using Orca3D and Simerics reduces the overall model preparation and setup time compared with general-purpose CFD solvers such as STAR-CCM++, ANSYS Fluent, or OpenFOAM. Second, in terms of hydrodynamic performance, the total resistance obtained at the ship’s service speed of 9 knots shows a relative deviation of only 4.89% compared with the experimental test data. In addition, high-resolution contour maps of pressure and velocity distributions were obtained, providing clear visualization of the flow field. Notably, the computed wave pattern along the hull and the free-surface elevation distribution exhibit strong agreement with the observed transverse and divergent wave systems generated by the ship in real operating conditions.
