Hello,
I am a Mech Eng student and I am only learning to use solidworks as I work through a number of projects in Uni.
Anyways, I have been looking all over the forum but it does not seem to have the question I need answered.
I am trying to calculate a drag force using the flow simulation on the boat. (a floating body)
I know it can easily calculate the force on bodies entirely submerged in water. But is it possible to calculate the force if the body is partially submerged in water?
Two phase fluid external flow can not be done with Solidworks(as I read somewhere), but would it be possible to calculate the force due to each fluid(air/water) separately and add them up?? (given I can figure out where the boat is submerged). I understand the results would not be accurate. However as long as I can get somewhat reasonable value, that will do for the current project I am doing.
Thanks in advance
I think what you're asking for is theoretically feasible, however it comes with some big caveats that depend on the length scale of your boat and the relative speeds. You can have gas and liquid subdomains in the same simulation, but they will not mix, nor will their surfaces interact. That means you will not be able to model bow waves and a true wake. The amount of drag that these phenomena contribute depends on how big your boat is, and how fast it's going. Really the only legitimate simulation I can imagine for this thing is extremely low Reynolds number flow (and that value will of course vary widely between the air and water as well.) Otherwise you're going to be ignoring too many mechanics to get a real accurate model.