The coupling between heel and the loads in the horizontal plane is usually neglected in manoeuvrability studies. However, the heel–sway and heel–yaw coupling can play an important role in potentially unsafe conditions, such as in a following sea. In these conditions, small fast vessels experience dynamic instabilities which threaten their ability to maintain a straight course. In this study, the coupling between the static heel and the sway force and yaw moment was investigated for a high-speed craft. The objective of this work is to understand the effect of heel on the manoeuvring in following waves, and to predict this effect by means of numerical tools for different combinations of wave characteristics and vessel speeds. A dedicated captive model test campaign was conducted to evaluate the manoeuvring loads in sway and yaw when the craft has a heel angle in following regular waves. The tests were performed in the towing tank of Delft University of Technology. The heel-induced loads depend strongly on the longitudinal position of the vessel in the wave, and they significantly differ from the heel-induced loads in calm water at the respective speed. The data carried out in the model tests were used to describe empirically the heel-induced loads for several combinations of ship speeds and wave characteristics. This empirical description was meant to correct a 3D potential flow boundary element method (BEM), with the objective of being able to predict these loads on a wide range of conditions. The corrected 3D BEM was used to simulate the behaviour of the high-speed craft in following regular waves. This analysis showed that the heel-induced loads have the effect of stabilizing the ship to the inception of dynamic instabilities in the following sea.@en

The Flettner rotor is attracting increasing attention as a viable technology for wind-assisted ship propulsion. Nonetheless, the influence of the Reynolds number on the aerodynamic performance of rotating cylinders is still unclear and under debate. The present study deals with a series of wind-tunnel experiments on a large-scale Flettner rotor in which the forces and pressures acting on the cylinder were measured for Reynolds numbers as large as Re=1.0⋅10 ⁶ . The rotating cylinder used in the experimental campaign had a diameter of 1.0 m and span of 3.73 m. The results indicate that the lift coefficient is only affected by the Reynolds number in the critical flow region and below velocity ratio k=2.5. Conversely, in the velocity ratio range 1<k≤2.5, the drag coefficient is markedly influenced by the Reynolds number over the entire range of flow conditions analyzed. The power coefficient scales with the cube of the tangential velocity and it appears to be insensitive to the Reynolds number or whether the cylinder is spun in an air stream or in still air.

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Experiments on a large-scale Flettner rotor were carried out in the boundary-layer test section of Politecnico di Milano wind tunnel. The rotating cylinder used in the experimental campaign (referred to as Delft Rotor) had a diameter of 1.0 m and span of 3.73 m. The Delft Rotor was equipped with two purpose-built force balances and two different systems to measure the pressure on the rotor’s outer skin. The goal of the experiments was to study the influence of different Reynolds numbers on the aerodynamic forces generated by the spinning cylinder. The highest Reynolds number achieved during the experiments was.

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The present study describes the application of the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique for the reconstruction of hydrodynamic pressures and loads on a ship model from measured velocity fields during towing tank tests. As an alternative to conventional pressure and force measurement techniques the method simultaneously pictures the velocity field and captures the dynamic aspect of the flow. The presented measurements are conducted in the transom region of a generic hull of a planing vessel which is equipped with an interceptor to create a stagnating flow, associated with a high pressure peak. The flow close to the hull is captured with an underwater stereoscopic PIV system and the pressure peak in front of the interceptor is reconstructed from time-averaged velocity fields. Results show the effect of different interceptor heights on the pressure distribution in the center-plane of the model. Further, a 3D flow field is reconstructed from scanning PIV measurements to analyze the lift reduction due to the finite span of the interceptor. The spatial variation of the measurement uncertainty is analyzed and propagated to the pressure field uncertainty and the potential of the method is further evaluated by comparison with numerical results from steady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations.

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Crew of small fast ships often experiences excessive vertical accelerations when sailing in waves, leading to discomfort and injuries. In an attempt to avoid this, experienced operators reduce speed voluntarily when they anticipate that the next vertical peak acceleration will be unacceptably large. However, at night and during excessive spray, the operator can hardly see the environment which makes it almost impossible to anticipate wave driven events. On top of that, this approach carries the risk of operator misjudgement due to loss of concentration or fatigue. The objective of this paper is to investigate the potential of using haptic assistance to support operators in preventing excessive vertical accelerations, by using haptic speed advice on the throttle based on experienced wave statistics. A stochastic based approach was used to construct a haptic algorithm, which gives a maximum advisable propeller speed setting based on an estimate of the current sea state. To test the effectiveness of this approach, a human-in-the-loop experiment was conducted. The effect of haptic assistance was compared to manual control under both good and reduced visibility conditions. No significant decrease in the number of excessive accelerations was achieved when comparing equal conditions in the current experiment, although subjects controlled the ship with reduced workload. The lack of significance indicates a difference in control strategy between the participants, for 16 out of 22 participants experienced less excessive accelerations when sailing shared control.@en

The workability of various types of operations offshore are largely affected by waves and wave induced motions. Examples are crew transfer from crew transfer vessels or service operation vessels to offshore wind turbines for maintenance, landing of helicopters in (navy) vessels and various crane operations. Over the recent years quite some effort has been put in technology aiming to provide a real time on-board prediction of approaching waves and wave induced vessel motions some minutes in advance. Enabling crew to anticipate, thus enhancing the safety and operability of these operations. This paper addresses the performance during a field test of the system as being under development by Next Ocean enabling such predictions, based on using an off-the-shelve (noncoherent) navigation radar system as a remote wave observer. Briefly summarizing (earlier publications on) the technical approach, focus will be on results obtained from a field test where the system was validated. Good agreements between ship motions as measured by an on-board motion reference unit and predictions obtained by the wave and motion prediction system during a field test on the North Sea near the Dutch coast on a 42 m patrol vessel will be shown in the results section, from which the usefulness of the system for operational decision support can be concluded.

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In the last forty years wave drift loads have been calculated with methods based on the near-field theory (hull pressure integration, Pinkster [4]) and/or the far field method (linear momentum theory). Both methods use linear theory and through its formulation ignore the ship's hull form above the mean water line. It is evident that in survival sea-states the small motion assumptions are violated and the hull form above the mean water line can affect the motion characteristics of the ship and the drift loads. In order to get more insight in this effect, SBM has conducted a systematic model test campaign at the TU Delft using an Aframax size tanker. The campaign included tests with two different bow shapes: the original bow with flare, and a wall-sided bow. Horizontal loads on the complete vessel and a section of the bow only were measured accompanied by measurements of the ship motions and relative wave heights. Measurements were performed for various wave heights and periods. Numerous repeat tests were conducted to establish the confidence level of the measurement data. Measurements have shown motions and relative wave heights are dependent on wave height. It was suggested that viscous damping may play a part in this. The relative wave height in high waves is affected by bow shape; namely the finite draft, the flare and the bulb. How this departure from linear theory affects the forces on the vessel should be investigated further.@en