Analysing numerical flow computations for practical ship hull form design

This invited lecture stressed the importance of analysis of the computed flow and wave pattern around a ship hull, aiming at understanding the physics and design trends. Such understanding is essential to determine hull form design modifications for reducing the resistance, or to define the design space for automatic optimisation.
It is indicated how, using a simple conceptual procedure based on ‘slow-ship linearised’ ship wavemaking theory, the occurrence of dominant wave components in the wave pattern can be related with hull form features; thus indicating hull form modifications that reduce the wave resistance.
It is also shown how computational evaluation of systematic hull form variations, using a free-surface potential or RANS solver, is a powerful tool to collect insight and design guidelines.