Automatic CFD analysis of planing hulls by means of a new web-based application: Usage, experimental data comparison and opportunities

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling is a powerful tool to analyze complex hydrodynamics problems like flow around bluff bodies and their interactions including flow separation and reattachments where analytical formulas are not applicable nor reliable. Nevertheless, a relevant limitation on the systematic adoption of automated CFD workflows for a given typology of problems is still present. In this work, the results of an automatic and web-based application, named LincoSim, specifically designed to perform automatic CFD modelling of planing hulls are presented. The tool uses only open-source software and deploys High Performances Computing infrastructures to take advantage of well-established yet innovative technological bricks. A detailed comparison for planing hull hydrodynamics analyses is performed in an “automated fashion” on a systematic series of four planing hulls previously studied experimentally over a wide range of Froude numbers. The numerical outcomes and the systematic series trends of total resistance, sinkage, dynamic trim, and wetted surface area are compared with the measured experimental results. This paper shows that today CFD automated workflows can be used to study planing hull hydrodynamics highlighting the fact that several innovative aspects involved in LincoSim could have a strong impact on the way CFD tools are adopted in modern marine industrial design.