Exploiting the limit of BEM solvers in moonpool type floaters

Abstract

Solvers based on Boundary Element Method (BEM) are fast and they have proven to provide accurate results in a wide range of applications. On the other hand, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers are high-fidelity tools able to account for viscous effects. However, they are computationally demanding. In the present work, the limitations of BEM solvers are exploited considering the case study of a moonpool type floater in which the viscous effects near the sharp edges of the body (vortex shedding) are not negligible. The BEM results are compared with the results from an unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) CFD solver and experimental data, while viscous corrections of the BEM method are assessed.