Focus Offshore Ltd.
Hydrodynamic Design Services
The Indian Ocean tsunami which devastated 13 countries and killed more than 200,000 people in December 2004 was a chilling demonstration of the power of the hydrodynamic forces which are generated when a fluid flows over a solid object. Forces of lower magnitude are more common in the marine environment, but they may still be destructive or wasteful in the long term. For example:Most popular related searches
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An increase of just 20 microns in the surface roughness of a ship’s hull will increase its hydrodynamic drag – and hence the fuel required to power it – by 1 or 2%. This equates to over 2 million tonnes of fuel wasted in a year, based on the world shipping industry’s annual fuel consumption of 170 million tonnes.
The hydrodynamic drag of an unfaired object – and hence the towing or mooring force – may be 40% higher than that of a similar streamlined shape.
Vortex shedding from poorly designed underwater components causes unsteady hydrodynamic forces, leading to premature fatigue failure.
Focus Offshore offers impartial consultancy and a practical design service for:
- Hydrodynamic force analysis
- Lift and drag predictions
- Advice on drag reduction techniques
- Control surface and appendage design
- Hydrodynamic performance prediction, evaluation and optimisation
- Experimental specification for physical modelling
- Model testing, data processing and performance assessment
- Procurement of cost-effective facility hire for hydrodynamic testing
- Technical audits and appraisals
- Provision of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) flow analysis