Toward obtaining the propulsive factors for a wind-assisted ship

Other conference contribution, 2025

Wind sails for ship propulsion offer a promising alternative for reducing fuel consumption. The potential impact of the power produced by sails can reduce the fuel consumption from 10% to 30% according to a recent study (Ammar and and Seddiek, 2022; Ouchi et al., 2013). To enhance power prediction for wind-assisted vessels, it is crucial to develop a comprehensive understanding of how wind sails impact the hydrodynamics of the vessel, beside the aerodynamics. Numerical methods based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are increasingly being adopted for ship power prediction and have become valuable tools in evaluating the power of Wind-Assisted Ship Propulsion (WASP). When a ship operates with sails, the hull is subjected to aerodynamic side forces, resulting in a leeway and heel angle relative to the direction of motion (Clayton, 1987). Leeway angles, which are considered equivalent to the drift angle in the context of this study, will affect the hydrodynamic forces of the ship. The objective of this work is to evaluate the influence of drift angle on the hydrodynamic performance of a bare hull, with a specific focus on resistance components and analysis of the wake. CFD simulations are employed to determine the forces acting on the hull, the wake and the trained Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) with Radial Basis Function (RBF) (Huayamave et al., 2017) interpolation network is utilised to efficiently predict wake fields, bypassing the need for additional CFD simulations. A thorough understanding of these effects is a step toward mapping the propulsive factors for WASP and crucial for effective integration of wind propulsion into ship design and operation.