Study on the effect of marine biofouling for the ship resistance

For a ship sailed in seawater, it is only a matter of time before its immersed surface is covered by marine fouling. Fouling expands the outer dimensions of the ship, alters the flow regime around the ship and changes the hydrodynamic forces acting on it. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of biofouling on a oceangoing ship by taking into consideration the resistance components using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver. The geometric model of the ship and fouling organisms around the hull are first established. Following that, the validation study is performed for the numerical simulation method in smooth condition with the available experimental data. Finally, the effects of biofouling on the individual ship resistance components are investigated.