Aerodynamic study of superstructures of megayachts

The paper provides an insight to the general flow characteristics around a yacht’s superstructure, the air-wake felt by the helicopter at the helipad, with respect to the operational limits, and attempts the creation of a database of aerodynamic coefficients, for a range of incident flow angles. The flow is simulated using Star CCM+ solver, with a RANS k-ω SST model, for two different speeds and 5 different incident angles. The flow is observed to be highly rotational, turbulent and with large areas of flow separation. Furthermore, the flow characteristics are magnified as the incident angle increases. It is identified that geometric changes of the superstructure are required to improve the flow and the helicopter operations should be prohibited for the maximum speed, since they fail to comply with the existing regulatory framework. Finally, the human body resilience to wind intensity and turbulence must be introduced into the design process.