Numerical Hull Resistance and Hydrodynamic Characteristics of an Independently Rotating Multi-Hull Vessel

Abstract In this study, an attempt is made to understand the hydrodynamic characteristics of an automated multi-hull vessel named as Quadmaran. Firstly, a single hull of the Quadmaran vessel is considered and numerical CFD simulation is performed using OpenFOAM. Hull resistance predictions are compared with the experimental findings and numerical simulation is validated. After validating the simulation scheme, further CFD simulations are performed on two hulls with varying distance between them to understand the hydrodynamic characteristics of different configurations. Pressure distribution and wave patterns around the hulls are also summarized and discussed in the paper. Further, efforts are made to optimize the distance between the hulls for reducing hull resistance. A basic framework is suggested to carefully consider the hydrodynamic effects for multi-hull vessels.