Estimation of Current Loads on Offshore Vessels Using CFD

Current loads acting on offshore vessels are important for predicting the hydrodynamic and structural responses of the vessels. It is also true for analyzing the behavior of moored systems under the action of ocean current. Unfortunately there are few standardized current load coefficients for offshore vessels and it is extremely difficult to be applied to arbitrary hull shapes, if any. Therefore current load coefficients for three hull shapes are calculated in this study using a CFD code, which is well known in the shipbuilding industry. In order to validate the present approach, a typical VLCC is taken as numerical example and resulting current coefficients are compared with experiment together with the OCIMF data. The comparison shows a good agreement in the qualitative sense. Two additional models considered herein are a shuttle tanker and a FPSO under deepwater condition $(WD/T{\geq}6)$. The present numerical approach may be utilized for practical design of offshore vessels.