COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS MODELING OF A SUBMERGED BODY IN A TOW TANK WITH WAVE GENERATION

Abstract

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the NPS tow tank with wave generation and a submerged body was created to investigate different methods of solid body modeling using commercial CFD software ANSYS CFX. A comparison of the rigid body method and immersed solid method was performed modeling a submerged rectangular body at different depths and different orientations. The models produced similar results when the body was lower beneath the wave surface with limited fluid-body interaction. As the amount of fluid-body interaction increased, the rigid body method showed increased amounts of wave energy dissipation as compared to the immersed solid method. This disruption of the wave energy resulted in the rigid body method showing lower body forces and moments when compared to the immersed solid model. The increased wave energy dissipation in the rigid body model is likely caused by the different mechanism for modeling body-fluid interaction. Future studies should compare the immersed solid modeling method results to experimental data and develop a CFD model with body motion.