Parametric study on passing ship effects on moored ship using CFD simulation validated with experiments

Abstract

The ships passing close to each other in narrow channels or in the vicinity of existing berths causes forces on the moored ships. A detailed study on these effects has been conducted using StarCCM + CFD software. The results obtained from the CFD simulations were compared with the existing results from experiments (Remery, 1974). Parametric studies were carried out for wider range of parameters such as displacement ratio, Froude number based on water depth, separation ratio, water depth to draft ratio and the ratio of the length of the moored and passing ships. It is observed from the results that the surge force due to the passing ship effects was proportional to the velocity of the passing ship to the power of 2.1 while the sway force and the yaw moment were proportional to the square of the velocity of the passing ship. The empirical equations to compute non-dimensional peak surge force, sway force and yaw moment on the moored ship due to a passing ship were formulated from the proportionality relationships and the empirical factors. The validity of the derived empirical equations was evaluated and compared with the experimental results obtained by Remery's (1974) and found to match reasonably well.