VENTuRE team member from the University of Malta, Naval Architectural Services Ltd, NAS, and University of Genova, Prof. Claire De Marco, Dr Kurt Mizzi, Ms Mariana Zammit Munro, Mr Alessandro Taylor, Prof. Massimo Figari, Dr Michele Martelli, Dr Diego Villa, Dr Silvia Donnarumma and Dr Raphael Zaccone attended the NAV2022 – 20th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SHIP & MARITIME RESEARCH held in Genoa, Italy from 15th to 17th June 2022. The conference covered various engineering topics related to ship and maritime research, including:
- Ship Safety and security
- Seakeeping and Manoeuvrability
- Ship Propulsion
- Ship Structures and materials
- Ship Efficiency and Environment protection
- Ship Design
- Small ships and yachts
- Future Naval Technology and Ship Design
- Safety and Comfort
- Ship Hydrodynamics
- Ship Propulsion
- Unmanned vehicles
Ms Zammit Munro presented her paper titled “A Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Spatial and Temporal Resolution together with Turbulence Modelling on the Hydrodynamic Forces of a Cavitating Foil” as part of her Master of Philosophy (first stage of the PhD) in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Malta.
Abstract: Cavitation is a highly destructive phenomenon that significantly disrupts the performance of propellers and control surfaces in the maritime industry. Hence, the prediction of forces developed during cavitation, through various numerical techniques, is imperative for the design and operation of maritime vessels. RANS turbulence models have proven to be the most computationally viable option for such a fast-paced industry. The work presented here analyses and compares several of these well- established models, including the SST k-ω and k-ε RNG models modified to account for compressibility effects. This paper aims to provide insight into the influence of timestep, mesh resolution and turbulence model on the hydrodynamic forces acting on a 2D cavitating hydrofoil, so as to facilitate future simulations.
Mr Alessandro Taylor presented his paper titled “The study of an innovative propulsion plant for a High-Speed Catamaran Ferry for decarbonisation in the marine industry”. The publication was developed on the grounds of his master’s degree thesis, that he wrote during his internship at Naval Architectural Services to complete his studies in Yacht Design at the University of Genova.
Abstract: This paper supports decarbonisation in the marine industry by demonstrating that a proper design methodology and state of the art technologies can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The paper demonstrates the possibility of reducing the environmental footprint of Marine High-Speed passenger transportation with innovative propulsion plant designs. The challenging solutions to designing a high-speed hybrid catamaran ferry, that satisfy design criteria and requirements, are presented and applied to a realistic case study. The design process investigated the potential electrification of the vessel to reduce its carbon footprint without compromising function and performance and a quantitative comparison to a conventional propulsion plant was carried out and presented.
The presented works were supported through the collaborative programme of the VENTuRE (project no. 856887) EU funded H2020 project.
During the main conference sessions, the VENTuRE project team members carried out B2B meetings with the Fincantieri, RINA and Vulkan to discuss possible future collaborations. with several stakeholders of the maritime field, such as; Fincantieri, RINA and Vulkan.