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Navatek Ltd. Enhances Marine Hydrodynamics with ANSYS CFX
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
- Sensors - Liquid Detection Sensors
Applicable Industries
- Marine & Shipping
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Digital Twin
- Virtual Reality
The Challenge
Navatek Ltd., a leader in researching, developing, and deploying innovative, advanced ship hull designs and associated technologies, faced a significant challenge in their testing process. The traditional method of scale model testing was proving to be time-consuming, expensive, and unreliable due to scaling effects. The complexity of the physics involved in the processes, including transient, transitionally turbulent, multiphase flow with a free surface, added to the difficulty of obtaining reliable and accurate results. This situation necessitated a more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solution for testing their ship hull designs.
About The Customer
Navatek Ltd., founded in 1979 and based in Honolulu, is a leader in the field of marine hydrodynamics. The company specializes in researching, developing, and deploying innovative, advanced ship hull designs and associated technologies for both military and commercial use. Navatek holds multiple U.S. patents relating to its underwater lifting body hull technology and is also known for its work in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) hull optimization, drag reduction, and integrated propulsion systems. The company's technology prototypes have demonstrated benefits including better sea kindliness, increased range and payload, reduced power requirements, higher seaway speeds, and reduced wake wash.
The Solution
Navatek Ltd. turned to ANSYS CFX for a solution to their testing challenges. ANSYS CFX offers reliable multiphase flow models which allow for the prediction of free surface shape, forces, and effects due to cavitation. The simulation results obtained from ANSYS CFX have been validated against towing-tank experiments and have shown excellent agreement. Additionally, CFX-Mesh allows for highly-automated, rapid creation of high-quality meshes with an inflation layer that ensures excellent near-wall resolution. This solution not only improved the reliability and accuracy of their testing process but also allowed for the rapid completion of what-if scenarios, providing valuable insight into design variations such as appendage placement.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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