CFD Simulation of Hydrodynamic Interaction Between a Ship and a Podded Propeller Using Body Force Method

This paper presents an application example of the body force propeller method to consider hydrodynamic interaction between the hull, pod and propeller blades; and predict the overall propulsion performance without implementing the actual rotating propeller model. As a test case, a tugboat with twin puller-pod units is selected, and a series of simulations, from a stand-alone propeller operation to a fully equipped hull under propeller overload conditions, are conducted. To evaluate the simulation performance improvement, two different modelling options in the body force propeller model, inflow sampling and induced velocity correction, are investigated. The estimated thrust, torque and tow force are then compared with the model test results. Finally, it is proposed to adopt the varying inflow sampling technique to enhance the simulation accuracies of the body force propeller method, particularly for propeller overload test cases.