Application of a Boundary Element Method for Wave-Body Interaction Problems Considering the Non-Linear Water Surface

In this paper an existing time domain panel method, which was originally developed for propeller flow simulations, is extended by implementing the mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian approach for the computation of the non-linear free water surface. The three-dimensional panel method uses a constant source and doublet density distribution on each panel and a Dirichlet boundary condition to solve the velocity potential in every time step. Additionally, a formulation for the acceleration potential is included in order to determine the hydrodynamic forces accurately. The paper gives an overview on the governing equations and introduces the numerical approach. Validation results of the developed method are presented for the wave resistance of a submerged spheroid and a wigley hull. Additionally, the wave diffraction due to a surface piercing cylinder in regular waves is validated regarding the forces and the water surface elevation around the body. Here, the computations are compared with other numerical methods as well as tank test results. Apart from this, the paper deals with an application example showing simulations of an artificial service vessel catamaran in waves. The forces on the hull with and without forward speed are presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the presented results and a brief outlook on further work.