Numerical simulation of a composite shell for underwater application using CFD and FEA

Abstract

In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to use fiber-reinforced composite material in place of metal for a shell used for underwater applications which is majorly subjected to hydro-static pressure. The study comprises the use of popular numerical techniques such as finite volume and finite element methods. CFD tool ‘ANSYS fluent’ which works based on finite volume method is used for the fluid flow simulation to get the forces acting on the structure. Structural analysis is performed for the imported loads from CFD result onto the structure with one-way fluid-structure coupling. FEM tool ‘ANSYS static structural which works based on finite element method is used for obtaining deformations and stresses in the shell. A sufficient number of iterations are made to get convergence of the numerical solution. Alternatives such as increasing the shell thickness and/or providing stiffeners to the shell are suggested to replace the metallic structure with FRP composites.