Comparative Study of Air Resistance with and without a Superstructure on a Container Ship Using Numerical Simulation

This study investigated the resistance performance of ships, using the air resistance correction method. In general, air resistance is calculated using an empirical formula rather than a direct calculation, as the effect of air resistance on the total resistance of ships is relatively smaller than that of water. However, for ships with large superstructures, such as container ships, LNG (liquefied natural gas) carriers, and car-ferries, the wind-induced effects might influence the air resistance acting on the superstructure, as well as cause attitude (trim and sinkage) changes of the ship. Therefore, this study performed numerical simulations to compare the total resistance, trim, and sinkage of an 8000 TEU-class container, ship with and without superstructures. The numerical simulation conditions were verified by comparing them with the study results of the KCS (KRISO Container Ship) hull form. In addition, the differences in the above values between the two cases were compared using the coefficients calculated by the empirical formula to identify the effects on the air resistance coefficient.