Evaluation of slamming loads using smoothed particle hydrodynamics and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes methods

A free surface Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes solver and a smoothed particle hydrodynamics method, the latter currently under development by the authors, have been applied to the evaluation of slamming loads (global forces and local pressures) over a series of two-dimensional cases for which experimental data (drop tests with a free falling rig) were available. In particular, numerical simulations were conducted on a wedge-shaped section with 30u deadrise and on a ship bow section; in both cases, different heel angles and different drop speeds have been considered, to analyse a wide range of cases and to assess not only the accuracy of the numerical methods in a single case, but also their capability to capture significantly different conditions. Results from both methods are presented and compared with available measurements, allowing an assessment of these different techniques to be made and their relative merits and shortcomings to be observed.