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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kühl, Niklas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.05401
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author Kühl, Niklas
author_facet Kühl, Niklas
contents This paper introduces an inviscid Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach for the rapid aerodynamic assessment of Flettner rotor systems on ships. The method relies on the Eulerian flow equations, approximated utilizing a state-of-the-art Finite Volume Method with a dynamic momentum source term to enforce rotor circulation. The method offers substantial computational savings by avoiding near-wall refinement and easing time step constraints, making it ideal for early design phases such as design space exploration. Validation against potential flow theory and viscous reference simulations confirms that the method reliably predicts lift-induced forces despite its limitations in capturing parasitic drag. Three-dimensional simulations, including idealized wind tunnel setups and full-scale ship applications at high Reynolds numbers (up to ReL=1E08), demonstrate that results based on low-order convection featuring a solid numerical viscosity yield deviations with respect to viscous reference data of around O(10%). Accepting this reasonable loss of predictive accuracy provides a simulation framework with response times in the order of minutes compared to hours or even days.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_05401
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Efficient Numerical Quantification of Flettner Rotor Installations
Kühl, Niklas
Fluid Dynamics
Computational Physics
This paper introduces an inviscid Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach for the rapid aerodynamic assessment of Flettner rotor systems on ships. The method relies on the Eulerian flow equations, approximated utilizing a state-of-the-art Finite Volume Method with a dynamic momentum source term to enforce rotor circulation. The method offers substantial computational savings by avoiding near-wall refinement and easing time step constraints, making it ideal for early design phases such as design space exploration. Validation against potential flow theory and viscous reference simulations confirms that the method reliably predicts lift-induced forces despite its limitations in capturing parasitic drag. Three-dimensional simulations, including idealized wind tunnel setups and full-scale ship applications at high Reynolds numbers (up to ReL=1E08), demonstrate that results based on low-order convection featuring a solid numerical viscosity yield deviations with respect to viscous reference data of around O(10%). Accepting this reasonable loss of predictive accuracy provides a simulation framework with response times in the order of minutes compared to hours or even days.
title Efficient Numerical Quantification of Flettner Rotor Installations
topic Fluid Dynamics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.05401