Comparative summary of approaches used with the impulse response method

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of various methodologies to calculate the seakeeping behaviour of ships using the impulse response method. Developments of several authors incorporate non-linearities regarding the radiation, diffraction and wave forces. In contrast to frequency domain methods, advantages are expected if ship motions become non-linear, for example in waves with high steepness ratios. The comparison is structured into analysis for each force component with and without motions in waves. The main contribution is the quantitative analysis for several ships, forward speeds and methodologies. Multiple frequency domain methods are incorporated in the analysis. The focus of the analysis lies on the evaluation of applicability as well as the limits of the method for all states investigated. The results of the impulse response method show the following: The method is applicable to several forward speeds. In long waves, the choice of the parameters calculated in the frequency domain for the computation of the radiation and diffraction forces has a strong influence on the computed motion amplitudes. In short waves, the computation of the added resistance is a considerable challenge. Especially at high forward speeds, the consideration of the stationary wave system is essential for obtaining accurate results with three-dimensional panel codes.