Cloud Towing Tank

Our main activity at Cloud Towing Tank is conducting high-fidelity CFD analyses for problems specific to the marine industry. Our clients use our services to get access to data regarding hydrodynamic performance of different types of vessels. Our primary clients are ship design companies and naval architects, who outsource CFD analysis to us in order to gain access to important data early in the design process. Using this data, they can improve and change the design so that specific project requirements are met. Very often this concerns calm water resistance and self-propulsion performance, but also manoeuvring, seakeeping and similar. Complex simulations such as manoeuvring and seakeeping can be essential for designing vessels with strict performance requirements; for example, crew transport vessels that need to meet vertical acceleration requirements while at heavy sea, or different types of utility vessels where turning circle diameter is critical. CFD offers a way to test these specific aspects of vessel performance in relatively short time and for a reasonable cost. Testing a large number of different hull designs is another key role CFD plays in the industry: this helps naval architects arrive at an optimum hull form, or check the influence of changing an appendage, or propulsor positioning etc. In this regard, parametric hull optimisation can be especially useful, allowing a very large number of hull shape candidates to be tested.