A numerical investigation on ship-ship overtaking interactions in confined waterways

Abstract

Abstract The whole process of a KCS container ship overtaking a low-speed Neo-Panamax container ship is numerically simulated by solving the unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations. The dynamic overset mesh technique is adopted to simulate the relative motions between the two ships and the ship attitude variations. The free-surface elevations, ship attitudes, as well as hydrodynamic forces and moments on the two ships are predicted. In order to discuss the effects of different navigation parameters on the ship-ship interactions, a set of ship speeds, lateral distances and water depths are simulated. The results illustrate that the overtaken ship is more significantly impacted by the interaction than the overtaking ship, and the drawdown generated by the overtaking ship is the key factor during the overtaking process. The increase of ship speed, the decrease of lateral distance or water depth can lead to more intense drawdown, and hence even more significant ship-ship interaction effects.