Adjoint-based Shape Optimization of a Ship Hull using Various Propeller Resolution Methods: Application
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The environmental footprint as well as the direct operating cost of a ship are governed by the fuel consumption, which in turn depend on the hydrodynamic efficiency of the hull. The latter is partially governed by the interaction between the hull and the propeller. Therefore, simulations-based optimization methods able to concurrently resolve the fluid dynamics around the ship hull and its’ propulsion system are highly appreciated. High-fidelity methods, in which the transient rotational motion of the propeller is resolved by a corresponding rotation of the grid, are afflicted by substantial computational costs of both primal and adjoint simulations due to the unsteady nature of the application. Computationally efficient alternatives to the transient primal rotational motion are, thus, important and can be the first step towards an efficient unsteady adjoint shape optimization. Using different primal and their corresponding adjoint propulsion models, we investigate generic verification examples and an established ship hydrodynamics validation case (Japan Bulk Carrier) for a wake uniformity objective in a gradient-based descent approach to optimize the shape of the hull.
