Estimation of steady wave forces and moment acting on an obliquely moving ship in short waves, and its application in a manoeuvring simulation

Abstract

In this study, we propose a prediction method for steady wave forces acting on an obliquely moving ship in short waves. Particularly, we enhance an existing method that focuses on refraction of flow and waves in the vicinity of ship's waterline, in terms of the wave amplitude in the near region of the ship and the flow velocity. The former is theoretically modified by deriving an advection equation for wave energy on a ship-fixed frame, and the latter is improved by reflecting the results of computational fluid dynamics that automatically includes viscous effects. A comparison between the prediction and published captive model test results shows that the present method can more adequately capture the variation of the steady wave forces owing to the ship advancing speed and lateral drift than the original method, although the prediction accuracy is not necessarily improved under all conditions. To confirm the applicability of the present method for steady wave forces to ship manoeuvring problems, we predict course-keeping manoeuvres of a ship in regular short waves through a numerical simulation that considers only the steady wave forces in the equation of motion in calm water. The manoeuvring simulation results are validated using previously published free-running model test results, involving various rudder effectiveness conditions for the ship model and full-scale ships, both with and without engine limits. The comparison shows that the present method for steady wave forces is effective in predicting the course-keeping manoeuvres under rudder effectiveness conditions for a ship model in regular short waves. Nonetheless, the present method is insufficiently practical in terms of the manoeuvring simulation under rudder effectiveness conditions for a full-scale ship that is relatively more susceptible to waves. We confirm that an empirical correction for the computed steady wave surge forces based on the discrepancy between the measured and computed values under the ship resting enables the approximate prediction of the course-keeping manoeuvres even under the rudder effectiveness conditions for the full-scale ship.