An Investigation of the Effect of Real Ship Geometry Variations on Experimental and Computational Ship Airwake Results

Abstract:
The impact of ship airwake on helicopter operations to rear flight decks has been a topic of much research over the past three decades. While generic ships have been developed over the years to enable analysis tool and knowledge development, actual ships can vary significantly, resulting in different airwake features. The study of variations in ship geometry is important both to understand how differences may impact operations, but also to understand the level of geometrical fidelity that is required on ship models undergoing analysis. In Canada, the newly launched (2018) Harry DeWolf-class Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) have unique features that have been studied for their impact on airwake characteristics. This paper explores different geometrical characteristics from the perspective of their operational impacts and also considering their importance for inclusion in simulation. The paper shows that turbulence level is the parameter most affected by the minor variations that were examined, and helps guide the inclusion or exclusion of details in future ship models.

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