Numerical and experimental assessment of nominal wake for a bulk carrier

In this paper, numerical and experimental assessment of nominal wake for a handymax bulk carrier at model and full-scale is performed. A circumferential averaged non-dimensional axial velocity distribution and integral value of nominal wake are obtained based on the measurements performed with the Pitot tube in the towing tank of Brodarski institute. Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations along with three different turbulence models are utilized within double body simulations. The influence of the application of wall functions is investigated at model scale. Since the obtained differences between numerical solutions with and without wall functions are not large, full-scale simulations are performed with wall functions to avoid large cell number. The obtained numerical results are validated at model scale and satisfactory agreement is achieved. The significant scale effects are noticed in both integral value of nominal wake and circumferential averaged non-dimensional axial velocity distribution. Therefore, full-scale numerical simulations of viscous flow offer important benefits, especially in the optimization of the stern flow.