Manoeuvring prediction of a container ship in shallow water using numerical planar motion mechanism

ABSTRACT Manoeuvring behaviour of a vessel changes drastically when it enters from deep water region to a shallow water region. Flow characteristics, around the hull changes and the vessel, respond poorly to the use of control surfaces. Aim of this paper is to study the manoeuvring behavioural changes in a container ship for different water depth conditions. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods are used for simulating static and dynamic captive model tests. Variation in hydrodynamic reaction forces and moments caused by the reduction in water depth and the subsequent effect in hydrodynamic derivatives appearing in the equation of motion are explained in detail. Standard turning circle and zigzag manoeuvring tests are simulated using the CFD generated hydrodynamic derivatives to assess the manoeuvring characteristics of the vessel.