Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is an important tool for studying flow phenomena in maritime applications, including ship resistance, free-surface flows and ship-wave interaction. However, professional CFD software has a considerable learning curve: users must understand not only the underlying fluid mechanics, but also numerical methods, meshing, boundary conditions, turbulence modelling and the processing and interpretation of simulation results.
The objective of this thesis is to develop a structured and practice-oriented learning path for maritime CFD using OpenFOAM. The student will investigate which concepts and skills are required to progress from limited prior CFD experience towards realistic maritime simulations and determine an appropriate sequence in which these should be introduced.
Based on this analysis, a series of OpenFOAM simulations will be developed with gradually increasing complexity. Possible topics include simple single-phase flows, complex geometries and meshing, turbulence modelling, two-phase and free-surface flows, wave generation and ultimately flow around a ship hull. For each step, the relevant physical and numerical principles will be explained, while the obtained results will be verified and, where possible, validated against analytical, experimental or published reference data.
The final result will be a tested and reproducible maritime CFD learning path, consisting of a sequence of OpenFOAM cases, supporting technical documentation and exercises, providing a scientifically sound introduction to CFD and maritime flow problems.