Seakeeping and 6-DoF
Seakeeping in OpenFOAM: a hull free to move in waves
Simulate a floating body responding to waves with all six degrees of freedom, using overset meshes so the hull can move without destroying the grid.
What it is
The hull is not held in place: it heaves, pitches and rolls under the forces the waves apply, and its motion changes the flow that moved it. Overset meshes let the body travel without the deformation limits a single moving mesh would hit.
What the application sets up
- A wave inlet with the height and period the assessment calls for
- Mass, centre of gravity and inertia for the floating body
- An overset mesh around the hull with a background domain
- Restraints on any degree of freedom that is not free, such as a mooring
- Motion time histories per degree of freedom, which is the result
Typical uses
- Hull motion and added resistance in a seaway
- Slamming and green water on deck
- Offshore platform and buoy response
- Stability and freeboard assessment in design waves
Industries
Sectors where this analysis is routinely asked for.
- Shipbuilding
- Offshore energy
- Naval architecture
- Workboats & ferries
What comes out
- Motion time histories in six degrees
- Added resistance in waves
- Deck wetness and slamming counts
- Operability envelopes
OpenFOAM solvers
overInterDyMFoam
Selected and configured for you from the analysis type. You can still see every dictionary the application writes.
In every tier
This analysis type is in the free build. The free tier limits mesh size to 250,000 cells and solving to one core — not which physics you may use.
On accuracy, plainly.
Every analysis type is exercised end to end on every pass — its case is generated, meshed and run — which establishes that the setup is right, not that the answer matches your geometry. No CFD result is evidence until it is checked against something you trust: a measurement, a hand calculation, or a mesh-refinement study the application will run for you. Treat these results with the judgement you would apply to any CFD you set up yourself.