Hydrofoil Installation and Performance Optimisation for Ship Resistance Reduction in Trimaran Through Particle Swarm Optimisation Method

Abstract The trimaran vessel performs well both in calm waters and in waves. To improve its hydrodynamic efficiency, a hydrofoil is installed at the rear part of the trimaran. The primary aim of this hydrofoil is to reduce the overall resistance while the ship is moving. This study focuses on minimising the ship’s total resistance. An optimisation process is designed to determine the best position and angle of attack (AoA) for the hydrofoil at the design speed. To achieve this, a multi-disciplinary optimisation (MDO) platform is employed to conduct a computation fluid dynamics (CFD)-based automated design study. The optimisation method integrates STAR-CCM+ software with the particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm as the optimiser. The flow field and wave patterns around the trimaran are analysed to assess resistance improvements. The results reveal that the optimal position for the NACA6612 hydrofoil is towards the stern and away from the midship, with the ideal AoA being 5.19 degrees at cruising speed. Comparisons indicate that the resistance of the trimaran with the optimised hydrofoil is reduced by approximately 4.49% compared to a trimaran without the hydrofoil.