Numerical investigation of turbulent wake thermal effects on surface ships

To investigate the evolutionary mechanism of the thermal wake of surface ships, this study has proposed a numerical method for the thermal effects of turbulent wake and computed the near-wake fields for three ship schemes. The study indicates that the thermal wake, formed by vortices produced by the ship's movement and the propeller's rotation, propagates in a fine, thread-like pattern, setting it apart from the characteristic V-shaped diffusion of the Kelvin wake. The diffusion of thermal wake is divided into three distinct stages: formation, growth, and maturity. The thermal wakes generated by ships with shaftless rim-driven systems exhibit significantly lower diffusion rates, extents, and intensities compared to those created by ships with propeller propulsion systems. In summer, the center of the thermal wake exhibits a cold peak that is significantly lower than the ambient temperature. A reduction in temperature of greater than 0.05 K was observed for the three design schemes. In contrast, a warm peak that is above the environmental temperature is present at the edge of the wake. As the speed of the ship increases, the duration of each stage of the thermal wake lengthens and the diffusion range expands. When the temperature gradient is larger, the thermal wake becomes more intense. The findings of this study have revealed the evolution mechanisms of thermal effects in the wake of surface ships, thereby contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of hydrodynamics and thermodynamics.