Electromagnetic Scattering Model for Far Wakes of Ship with Wind Waves on Sea Surface

A comprehensive electromagnetic scattering model for ship wakes on the sea surface is proposed to study the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery for ship wakes. Our model considers a coupling of various wave systems, including Kelvin wake, turbulent wake, and the ocean ambient waves induced by the local wind. The fluid–structure coupling between the ship and the water surface is considered using the Reynolds–averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equation, and the wave–current effect between the ship wake and wind waves is considered using the wave modulation model. The scattering model can better describe the interaction of the ship wakes on sea surface and illustrates well the features of the ship wakes with local wind waves in SAR images.

Local flow assessment of the Japan Bulk Carrier using different turbulence models

Ship resistance and powering represent the most important aspects in the initial design stage of the ship. Based on their estimation the basic milestone for selecting the main engine and the propulsion system is established. The majority of ships in the international fleet nowadays rely on the screw propeller working in the wake zone behind the ship. The wake flow of the ship has a direct impact on the propeller performance and the propulsion efficiency. Accurate prediction of the nominal and effective wake is crucially important to provide a proper understanding of the flow where the propeller will perform. From this point of view, the wake flow of the Capesize Japan Bulk Carrier (JBC) is assessed using a viscous flow Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. Numerical simulations are performed to predict the nominal and effective wake of the ship by making use of the viscous flow solver ISIS_CFD of the FINETM/Marine software provided by NUMECA. The solver is based on the finite volume method to build the spatial discretization of the transport equation to resolve the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. Closure to turbulence is achieved using different turbulence models in order to investigate their accuracy in predicting the complex wake flow of the ship. Two-phase flow approach is used to model the air-water interface where the Volume of Fluid method is implemented to capture the free-surface. The results for both nominal and effective wake are assessed against the experimental data provided by the National Maritime Research Institute (NMRI) and Yokohama National University in Japan that were presented in the seventh Workshop on CFD in ship hydrodynamics (Tokyo2015). The results validation showed a reasonable agreement compared to the experimental data for both nominal and effective wake. As it was expected, some turbulence models showed to be more accurate in predicting ship wake, especially the Shear Stress Transport (K-ω SST) and Explicit Algebraic Reynolds Stress (EASM) Models. A special investigation of the flow vortices is also taken into consideration.

The importance of the turbulent ship wake regime for pollutant fate and transport

<p>This interdisciplinary study with implications for fate and transport of pollutants from shipping, investigates the previously overlooked phenomenon of ship induced mixing. When a ship moves through water, the hull and propeller induce a long-lasting turbulent wake. Natural waters are usually stratified, and the stratification influences both the vertical and horizontal extent of the wake. The altered turbulent regime in shipping lanes governs the distribution of discharged pollutants, e.g. PAHs, metals, nutrients and non-indigenous species. The ship related pollutant load follows the trend in volumes of maritime trade, which has almost tripled since the 1980s. In heavily trafficked areas there may be one ship passage every ten minutes; today shipping constitutes a significant source of pollution.</p><p>To understand the environmental impact of shipping related pollutants, it is essential to know their fate following regional scale transport. However, previous modelling efforts assuming discharge at the surface will not adequately reflect the input values in the regional models. Therefore, it is urgent to bridge the gaps between the spatiotemporal scales from high-resolution numerical modeling of the flow hydrodynamics around the ship, mixing processes and interaction of the ship and wake with stratification, and parameterization in regional oceanographic modeling. Here this knowledge gap is addressed by combining an array of methods; in situ measurements, remote sensing and numerical flow modeling.</p><p>A bottom-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler was placed under a ship lane, for <em>in-situ</em> measurements of the vertical and temporal expansion of turbulent wakes. In addition, <em>ex-situ</em> measurements with Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor were used to estimate the longevity and spatial extent of the thermal signal from ship wakes. The computational modelling was conducted using well resolved 3D RANS modelling for the hull and the near wake (up to five ship lengths aft), a method typically used for the near wake behaviour in analysing the propulsion system. As this is not feasible to use for a far wake analysis, the predicted wake is then used as input for a 2D+time modelling for the sustained wake up to 30min after the ship passage. These results, both from measurements and numerical models, are then combined to analyse how ship-induced turbulence influence at what depth discharged pollutants will be found.</p><p>This first step to cover the mesoscales of the turbulent ship wake is necessary to assess the impact of ship related pollution. In-situ measurements show median wake depth 13.5m (max 31.5m) and median longevity 10min (max 29min). Satellite data show median thermal wake signal 13.7km (max 62.5km). A detailed simulation model will only be possible to use for the first few 100m of the ship wake, but the coupling to a simplified 2D+time modelling shows a promising potential to bridge our understanding of the impact of the ship wake on the larger scales. Our model results indicate that the natural stratification affects the distribution and retention of pollutants in the wake region. The depth of discharge and the wake turbulence characteristics will in turn affect the fate and transport of pollutants on larger spatiotemporal scales.</p>

Modular, flexible, low-cost microstructure measurements: the Epsilometer

The Epsilometer (“epsi”) is a small (7cm diameter × 30cm long), low-power (0.15 W) and extremely modular microstructure package measuring thermal and kinetic energy dissipation rates, χ and ε. Both the shear probes and FP07 temperature sensors are fabricated in house following techniques developed by Michael Gregg at the Applied Physics Laboratory / University of Washington (APL/UW). Sampling 8 channels (2 shear, 2 temperature, 3-axis accelerometer and a spare for future sensors) at 24 bit precision and 325 Hz, the system can be deployed in standalone mode (battery power and recording to microSD cards) for deployment on autonomous vehicles, wave powered profilers, or it can be used with dropping body termed the “epsi-fish” for profiling from boats, autonomous surface craft or ships with electric fishing reels or other simple winches. The epsi-fish can also be used in real-time mode with the Scripps “fast CTD” winch for fully streaming, altimeter-equipped, line-powered rapid-repeating near-bottom shipboard profiles to 2200 m. Because this winch has a 25ft boom deployable outboard from the ship, contamination by ship wake is reduced 1-2 orders of magnitude in the upper 10-15 m. The noise floor of ε profiles from the epsi-fish is ~ 10−10 W kg−1. This paper describes the fabrication, electronics and characteristics of the system, and documents its performance compared to its predecessor, the APL/UW Modular Microstructure Profiler (MMP).