Bow Windshield

echoangle 20 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> To be in motion, any object must need to overcome friction. For large container ships, between 2 and 10% of resistance encountered is caused by drag, which worsens a vessel's fuel economy as the additional friction requires more energy (in the form of fuel) to overcome.

Do they mean aerodynamic drag here? Otherwise, what’s the remaining 90 to 98% of resistance from, if not drag?

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azalemeth 18 hours ago | parent [-]

I imagine hydrodynamic drag (and engine inefficiencies after that). Water is a thousand times more dense and about 50 times more viscous than air.

I'm surprised this isn't already "a thing" though, as the interaction of wind and waves have been known about for centuries and clearly a big blocky ship is going to be very much not finessed aerodynamically. The hydrodynamic Reynolds number is very large and I suspect dominated design considerations of efficiency with a limited time (and computational) budget.

	▲	echoangle 18 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Right, but hydrodynamic drag is drag too.

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burnt-resistor 18 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I bet it would be better if something aerodynamic could cover most of the stacks at the bow and have a fairing for the stern too. Tiny savings means millions in profits. Like, considering shark skin texturing of the hull too.