Smoothed particle hydrodynamics compared to finite volume methods in highly turbulent flow: A three-dimensional analysis of a marine propeller jet case

This study presents a comparative analysis between Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Finite Volume Methods (FVMs) in simulating highly turbulent flows, focusing on a three-dimensional marine propeller jet case. The mesh-free particle-based approach and the grid-based one are evaluated for their ability to resolve complex flow structures, such as tip vortices, wake dynamics, and turbulence-induced instabilities. This paper highlights the well-established computational framework of FVM while addressing gaps in the technical literature concerning SPH, providing a guidance on computational domain construction and boundary conditions. The comparison explores key flow characteristics, including the velocity and vorticity fields, and evaluates the consistency of results between the two methods. Additionally, time-frequency analyses using Fourier and wavelet transforms of a representative velocity signal are employed to assess the methods' abilities to capture both primary and secondary harmonics. The primary goal of this study is, then, to demonstrate the potential of SPH in accurately simulating highly dynamic flows, offering valuable insight for advancing numerical simulations of marine propeller-induced flows and other turbulent fluid–structure interactions. This study provides insight into the modeling of key characteristics of the near flow field of the propeller jet wake, including the formation of tip vortices and wake structures. The SPH simulations demonstrate satisfactory agreement with FVM results in capturing the main features of the instantaneous streamwise and spanwise velocity and vorticity fields.