Performance Analysis of a Dolphin-tail Rudder

As a part of numerical and experimental research works for the prediction and improvement of ship's maneuvering performance, a study on the performance analysis of two different rudders has been carried out. While the planform shape and the aspect ratio of the rudders have been fixed, section shape has been changed. Conventional type of HMRI NP section and special type of dolphin-tail section have been employed. Performances of the rudders have been investigated by using CFD and compared with experimental data obtained in a wind tunnel. A commercial CFD program has been used to solve the RANS equations. Two-equation k-ro model has been applied to close the governing equations. Block-structured grids are used in the numerical calculation. Based upon the calculation results, the rudder with dolphin-tail section has shown a possibility of significantly improving rudder performance if utilized as the section of ship rudders.