Control of Air-Ventilated Cavity Under Ship Hull in Abnormal Waves

Abstract

Practical implementation of ship drag reduction techniques can lead to substantial fuel savings and lessening environmental impacts of maritime transportation. One of such technologies is based on injecting air underneath ship hulls, which results in the formation of thin air cavities that decrease the wetted hull surface and hence its frictional drag. In realistic sea wave conditions, however, these cavities become unsteady and may easily disintegrate upon interaction with high-amplitude abnormal waves. In this study, the air-cavity dynamics in such situations is simulated with a potential flow model and empirical correlations. A method for controlling the air cavity by varying the air supply rate is numerically investigated. It is shown that degradation of the air-cavity power savings in the event of a rogue wave passing can be partly mitigated by briefly boosting the air supply right after the abnormal wave occurrence. For one considered example, it is found that 20% of power savings is lost in a condition with abnormal waves and constant air supply. In case of temporary augmentation of air injection, the overall decrease of power savings is reduced to 10%.