Cavitation prediction in high performance sailing, one year later.
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In July of 2024, we presented our perspective on the modelling of cavitation from the industry’s point of view at the 35th SNH. We explained how cavitation prediction was a major need for the accurate modelling of high performance yachts. In particular, we used the example of IMOCA yachts, where hydrofoil cavitation has a major influence on the longitudinal stability of the boat. While we showed that 2D RANSE cavitation calculations were possible and indeed used in the design cycle of our last IMOCAs, we also explained why the computational cost of 3D RANSE cavitation modelling was currently too high for an industrial project. Consequently, last year’s presentation introduced a test case for a cavitating foil, but contained no calculation results. In this presentation, we will show the results of calculations on the same test case, with parametric variations on numerical parameters such as y+, time steps, non-linear iterations, cavitation parameters… We will discuss these results in light of the naval architect’s needs, which are on a different time scale as the modelling itself, and explore some possible improvements.