CFD as a seakeeping tool for ship design

Seakeeping analysis has progressed from the linear frequency-domain 2D strip method to the nonlinear time-domain 3D panel method. Nevertheless, the violent free surface flows such as slamming and green water on deck are beyond the scope of traditional panel methods based on potential theory. Recently, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become an attractive numerical tool that can effectively deal with the violent free surface flows. ABS, as a classification society, is putting forth a significant amount of effort to implement the CFD technology to the advanced strength assessment of modern commercial ships and high-speed naval craft. The main objective of this study is to validate the CFD technology as a seakeeping tool for ship design considering fully nonlinear three-dimensional slamming and green water on deck. The structural loads on a large container carrier were successfully calculated from the CFD analysis and validated with segmented model test measurements.