An improved Rankine source panel method for three dimensional water wave problems

Abstract

An improved three dimensional Rankine source method is developed to solve numerically water wave problems in time domain. The free surface and body surface are both represented by continuous panels rather than a discretization by isolated points. The integral of Rankine source 1/r on free surface panel is calculated analytically instead of numerical approximation. Due to the exact algorithm of Rankine source integral applied on the free surface and body surface, a space increment free surface source distribution method is developed and much smaller amount of source panels are required to cover the fluid domain surface than other numerical approximation methods. The proposed method shows a higher accuracy and efficiency compared to other numerical methods for various water wave problems. © 2018 Society of Naval Architects of Korea