Van Voorden Maritime: “FINE/Marine is the most advanced CFD software for the marine industry” (Plugged from numeca.be)

Van Voorden Maritime: “FINE/Marine is the most advanced CFD software for the marine industry”
07.03.13 Increase in knowledge and better performing product for its customers thanks to NUMECA’s FINE/Marine!

A proper understanding of the flow around the ship is needed when designing an efficient propulsion system. With the purchase of the CFD package FINE/Marine, Van Voorden Maritime is now able to simulate flows around ships in-house, resulting in an increase in knowledge and a better performing product for its customers.


Customized propeller With increasing computer power, nowadays it’s possible to perform more complex calculations and simulations. This is for a propeller designer no different; where in the early days use was made of diagrams and comparable ships it’s now possible to design a customized propeller which is tailored to the ship and the customers needs.


One of the most interesting data to achieve such a high performance propeller is the wake field which is the plane where the propeller operates. This data is typically shown with three variables; axial, tangential and radial velocities. These can then be further processed in the design software of Van Voorden to create the best possible, smooth running propeller with optimal thrust while taking into account the actual flow at the propeller. This kind of propeller is referred as the third generation and is developed by Van Voorden as a ‘Next Generation Propeller’.

Most advanced CFD software for the marine industry The wake field can be obtained from full scale CFD calculations. Other sources for these fields are model tests (with a wake field on model scale) or from similar ships from our database. However, latter two methods bring some uncertainties in the propeller design process. To ensure a high quality product Van Voorden recently bought the CFD package FINE/Marine, the most advanced CFD software for the marine industry. With the purchase Van Voorden is the first propeller manufacturer in the world to acquire such this advanced simulation software. Next to predicting the wake field, CFD calculations will also be used to simulate the wave pattern and flow details near the hull and/or appendages which also may effect the performance of the propeller.


Unlimited possibilities Furthermore the company has now unlimited possibilities to further develop the design of propellers into fourth generation (interaction between propeller and hull) and fifth generation (taking into account interaction between hull and propeller for different design conditions). Also other research projects for cavitation effects and for specific markets (luxury yachts, fishery, inland shipping) can now be taken to the next level. With this investment Van Voorden Maritime is ready for the feature and ready to set the new standard in propeller design.

To read Van Voorden Maritime’s review on FINE/Marine, please click here.

For more details on FINE/Marine, please contact us at enquiry@numit.com.my or +60 3 8 959 3436.