Study on self-propulsion experiment of ship model with energy-saving devices based on numerical simulation methods

The paper presents a numerical simulation method to simulate ship model self-propulsion experiment based on similarity theory, and to predict the energy-saving efficiency of energy-saving devices (ESDs) accurately. Self-propulsion experiments of bare hull and model with compensation duct are performed in normal simulation and complete-similarity theory simulation (CSTS) methods by using the commercial code STAR CCM+. Normal simulation results are compared with the experimental value to validate the accuracy of numerical simulation method. The differences of the flow field between normal simulation and CSTS show the existence of scale effect. It is concluded that CSTS method is more suitable for self-propulsion experiment of the ship model with ESDs.