Boundary-integral representation sans waterline integral for flows around ships steadily advancing in calm water

Abstract

The boundary-integral flow-representation associated with the boundary-value problem, commonly called Neumann–Kelvin (NK) problem, that corresponds to linear potential flow around a ship steadily advancing in calm water involves an integral around the mean waterline of the ship. This ‘waterline integral’ is a notorious source of numerical difficulties and has been extensively studied. The waterline integral in the NK theory is largely – but not fully – eliminated in the modification, called Neumann–Michell (NM) theory, of the NK theory. Specifically, the NM theory includes a residual waterline-distribution of weak Rankine singularities, ignored in practical applications. A crucial element of the NM theory is a mathematical transformation that is based on a vector Green function, which is associated with the common scalar Green function used in the NK theory. This transformation is revisited in the present study. A rigorous analysis yields an answer to a fifty-year old puzzle: an exact boundary-integral flow representation that does not include a waterline integral. A remarkable feature of this new flow representation, which is a modification of the NM flow representation given previously, is that it explicitly determines the flow potential and the flow velocity at a ship hull surface in terms of the flow velocity at the hull surface, rather than in terms of the hull-surface potential as in usual boundary-integral flow representations obtained via Green’s classical identity.