Geometric Modelling and Deformation for Shape Optimization of Ship Hulls and Appendages

The precise control of geometric models plays an important role in many domains such as computer-aided geometric design and numerical simulation. For shape optimization in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the choice of control parameters and the way to deform a shape are critical. In this article, we describe a skeleton-based representation of shapes adapted for CFD simulation and automatic shape optimization. Instead of using the control points of a classic B-spline representation, we control the geometry in terms of architectural parameters. We assure valid shapes with a strong shape consistency control. Deformations of the geometry are performed by solving optimization problems on the skeleton. Finally, a surface reconstruction method is proposed to evaluate the shape's performances with CFD solvers. We illustrate the approach on two problems: the foil of an AC45 racing sail boat and the bulbous bow of a fishing trawler. For each case, we obtained a set of shape deformations and then we evaluated and analyzed the performances of the different shapes with CFD computations.