A numerical trim methodology study for the Kriso container ship with bulbous bow form variation

The application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is the fastest developing area in marine fluid dynamics as an alternative to Experimental Fluid Dynamics (EFD). While EFD employs well-established methods for predicting a ship's performance, CFD is still challenged to reach a reliable level of accuracy in a reasonable amount of time. In the present study, this issue is addressed in the context of trim optimization by exploring the combination of time-inexpensive potential flow simulations with high-fidelity Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) simulations. This approach allowed covering a broad fore body design space by running a large number of potential flow simulations while at the same time important flow effects due to viscous forces were included by running URANS simulations over the full speed range for a small set of simulations. The KCS baseline design results were validated against an experimental towing tank dataset ensuring a valid CFD setup and thus demonstrating its competitiveness to EFD.