HPC and CFD in the marine industry: past, present and future

This paper explores the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) applications on High Performance Computing (HPC) platforms from the perspective of a user engaged in Naval Architecture research. The paper will consider the significant limitations which were imposed on research boundaries prior to present HPC capabilities, how this impacted development in the field and the implications for industry. One particular example is the costly experimental testing which, due to resource constraints, is generally restricted to model scale. It will then present an overview of the numerical simulation capabilities using current HPC performance and capability.

With the increase of computational power and capacity, CFD simulations are proving to be more accurate and reliable. Being relatively cheaper and more time efficient, numerical methods are becoming the preferred choice within the industry compared to traditional experimental tests. Nevertheless, certain experimental procedures cannot be numerically replicated with the current levels of computational capacity.

The future needs and challenges of research and development will be outlined and discussed, highlighting the significant impact exascale computing will have in the field.