Chimera RANS Simulation of Ship And Fender Coupling For Berthing Operations

Abstract

A Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) numerical method has been coupled with a six-degree-of-freedom motion program for time-domain simulation of ship and fender coupling during berthing operations. The method solves the mean flow and turbulence quantities on embedded, overlapped, or matched multiblock grids. The unsteady RANS equations were formulated in an earth-fixed reference frame and transformed into general curvilinear, moving coordinate systems. A chimera domain decomposition technique was employed to accommodate the relative motions between different computational blocks. Calculations were performed first for a full-scale motor vessel in berthing operations. Comparisons have been made between the computations and measurements to demonstrate the feasibility of the chimera RANS approach for time-domain simulation of the hydrodynamic coupling between the ship and berthing structures. The method was then employed for a parametric study of full-scale berthing ships under different approach speeds, water-depth-to-draft ratios, quay wall clearance distances, and fender stiffnesses.