Comparative study of ship resistance calculated from CFD and obtained from towing tests: Case study of LCT vessel

A comparative study of the resistance of a landing craft tank (LCT) is reported, which is obtained from experiments (EFD) and computational fluid dynamics simulations (CFD). LCTs are naval vessels designed for amphibious warfare, specifically to transport tanks, vehicles, and troops to shore without the need for docks or piers. They are playing an important role in naval and amphibious operations, for example, in transporting heavy vehicles, equipment, and troops to unprepared shores. The LCT considered in this study was designed and constructed by the Indonesian Hydrodynamics Laboratory (IHL), BRIN, Surabaya, Indonesia, in 2021. The towing tests were conducted by the IHL BRIN to measure the vessel’s resistance at various speeds, and CFD calculations were carried out to verify the experimental results. Results of the study show that the vessel’s total resistance calculated from the CFD agrees well with the experimental data with an averaged discrepancy of 2.98%. This result is supported by the agreement in wave patterns obtained from the CFD and EFD.