A Practical Approach to the Assessment of Waterjet Propulsion Performance: The Case of a Waterjet-Propelled Trimaran

Abstract To obtain a reasonable evaluation of the performance of waterjet propulsion at the design stage, a semi-theoretical and semi-empirical method is used to calculate the fundamental parameters of waterjet propulsion performance using an iterative approach. To calculate the ship’s resistance, a boundary element method based on three-dimensional potential flow theory is used to solve the wave-making resistance, and an empirical approach is used to evaluate the viscous resistance. Finally, the velocity and pressure of the capture area of the waterjet propulsion control volume are solved based on turbulent boundary layer theory. The iteration equation is established based on the waterjet-hull force-balance equation, and the change in the ship’s attitude and the local loss of the intake duct are considered. The performance parameters of waterjet propulsion, such as resistance, waterjet thrust, thrust deduction, and the physical quantity of the control volume, are solved by iteration. In addition, a PID-controlled free-running ship model is simulated using the RANS CFD method as a comparison. We apply the proposed approach and the RANS CFD method to a waterjet-propelled trimaran model, and the simulation process and the results are presented and discussed. Although there are some differences between the two methods in terms of the local pressure distribution and thrust deduction, the relative error in the evaluation results for the waterjet propulsion performance is generally reasonable and acceptable. This indicates that the present method can be used at the early stages of ship design without partial information about the waterjet propulsion system, and especially in the absence of a physical model of the pump.