An Experimental Study on the Effect of Bow Shape on the Seaworthiness of a Ship.

Abstract

This experimental study concentrates on the effect of the above-water shape of a ship's bow on the seaworthiness of the ship. Detailed measurements were made on four ship models, all of which had the same underwater hull form, that of the Series 60/0.60 parent. The four bows included the parent bow, a bow with practically no flare, a bow with very large flare and a bow with compound flare. All of the bows had the standard sheer line. The models were tested in regular head seas of moderately severe height, corresponding to waves with a height to length ratio of 1:40. The results showed that all four bow shapes had nearly identical added resistance in waves and nearly identical pitch transfer functions. Increases in the bow flare lead to reductions in the heave and relative water motion transfer functions. Detailed examination of the records indicated that the higher harmonic character of the pitch motions was also affected. Finally, it was determined that the vertical accelerations of the bow were minimized with the small flare bow.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA137409

Entities

People

  • W. C. Webster
  • Y. F. Zhu

Organizations

  • University of California, Berkeley

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Displacement
  • Dynamic Response
  • Engineering
  • Frequency
  • Hulls (Marine)
  • Measurement
  • Molecular Dynamics
  • Naval Architecture
  • Photographs
  • Relative Motion
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Seaworthiness
  • Ship Design
  • Ship Models
  • Ship Motion
  • Slamming
  • Transfer Functions

Readers

  • Marine Hydrodynamics