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Lab Report Metacentric Height Latest PDF
Lab Report Metacentric Height Latest PDF
Manufacturing Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, UPM
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1.0 Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to calculate the metacentric height of a floating body using
its position of centre of gravity and its angle, and to relate this to the stability of the floating
body. To do this, a Metacentric Height Apparatus was used. The horizontal and vertical sliding
weights were manipulated, with one being held as constant while the other one was adjusted.
It was found that when the sliding weights were manipulated, the centre of gravity of the
floating body changed. This caused the angle on the heel indicator to change as the boat listed
to one side. The centre of gravity influences the metacentric height, which in turn influences
the stability of the floating body. As the angle of heel increased, the metacentric height
decreased. Therefore, increasing the metacentric height is important in order to increase the
2.0 Introduction
Metacentric height is the distance between a floating body’s centre of gravity and its metacentre.
height affects the stability of a floating body. A larger metacentric height means that the
When designing a ship, it is important to consider the metacentric height. In order to do so, one
must understand the relationship between metacentric height with centre of gravity and angle
of heel. Changing the centre of gravity of a ship to be distributed to one side will increase its
tendency to incline, or heel, to that side. The ship’s body rotates around a point called the
metacentre in order to return to a stable position. Changing the centre of gravity to more
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extreme positions decreases the metacentric height, so it is more difficult for the ship to return
to a stable position. A negative metacentric height would cause the ship to capsize.
Modern ships are equipped with anti-heeling systems such as ballast tanks. These systems
measure the angle of heel and counteract it by redistributing the ship’s weight by filling or
emptying different ballast tanks. Reducing a ship’s tendency to heel helps ensure its occupants’
safety and reduces damage to the ship and its equipment. [4]
This experiment was conducted using a Metacentric Height Apparatus which simulates a
floating body. The horizontal and vertical sliding weights were used to manipulate the centre
of gravity, and the apparatus was then floated in a tank of water. The angle of heel was recorded
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3.0 Objective
To study the stability of a floating body experimentally and compare with the
calculated stability.
4.0 Apparatus
3. The provided tank was filled with water and inserted with floating body.
4. The vertical sliding weight was raised gradually and the angle on heel indicator was recorded.
The height of sliding weight at the top edge of weight was read off and entered in table together
with angle.
Table 6.1 shows data of angle of heel when the position of horizontal weight is constant
Angle α 9 13 25
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dXs
Table 6.2 shows data of centre of gravity (zs) and the stability gradient ( )
𝑑α
Angle α 9 13 25
Table 6.3 shows data of angle of heel when the position of vertical weight is constant
Angle α 13 14 18
dZs
Table 6.4 shows data of centre of gravity (xs) and the stability gradient ( )
𝑑α
Angle α 13 14 18
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Figure 6.1 shows the graph of vertical centre of gravity position zs versus stability gradient
9 7.713
8 6.93
7 6.147
6
5
zs
4
3
2
1
0
0.024 0.017 0.009
Stability gradient
Figure 6.2 shows the graph of horizontal centre of gravity position zs versus stability gradient
0.33
0.35
0.3
0.25 0.22
xs
0.2
0.15 0.11
0.1
0.05
0
0.53 0.495 0.385
Stability gradient
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7.0 Discussion
1. The position of the metacentre is depend on the position of the C of G. This is because, when
it is at rest on even keel, the vessel's centre of buoyancy is directly below the centre of
gravity which is also below the metacentre. The stability of the distance
between metacentre and centre of gravity which is called as the metacentric height will
increase.
2. Based on the experiment that has been conducted, it was shown that the metacentric height
will always kept constant even with different angle of heel. The metacentric height (GM) will
not change but with different angle of heel, the righting moments varies. Hence if the ship has
noticed that the stability of ship depends not only upon the size of GM, but also upon the
displacement. However, lower values of metacentric heights result in larger list angles for
similar displacements of the jockey weight. In other words, the lower the metacentric height,
the more susceptible a floating object is to list which indicates a decrease in stability.
3. One of the effects of changing the position of the metacentre is the ship is in unstable
equilibrium. If G is above M, the ship will not remain upright. The ship heel to an angle called
an angle of loll. At that angle of loll, the ship picked up stability and return to the angle of loll
if disturbed by an external force. If G is sufficiently far above M, then the angle of loll may be
large and the vessel capsizes. Besides that, the ship will achieve neutral equilibrium. This
happens when G and M coincide, the vessel will have no reason to remain upright. Also, if it
is heeled, it will have no tendency either to heel further or to return upright. This unsafe state
is called a loll.
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4. The values of GM at lowest level of theta are likely to be less accurate because the metacentre
has a direct relationship with a tank’s rolling period. A tank with a small GM will be tender’
by having a long roll period. An excessively low or negative GM increases the risk of a tank
capsizing. A tank with low GM is less safe if damaged and partially flooded because the lower
metacentric height leaves less safety margin which means factors of safety. From this
experiment, possible sources of error were parallax error when taking measurements as well as
measurement, reference points are needed on the pontoon. Also, when measuring the centre of
gravity, care must be taken to ensure that the rig is completely, balancing on the thin metal
8.0 Conclusions
Based on the experiment, the stability of the floating body depends on the value of the
metacentric height. In order to achieve the stability of the floating body, the metacentric height
must above the centre of the gravity. From the table, it can be shown that the lower the
metacentric height value, the larger the angles shown, the less stable the floating body. In other
words, the higher the metacentric height, the more stable the floating body.
9.0 References
1. C.B. Barrass, D.R. Derrett, 2012, Ship Stability for Masters and Mates (Seventh Edition)
[Online], United Kingdom: Butterworth Heinemann. (Accessed 20 September 2019).
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2. Soumya Chakraborty, 2019, Ship Stability-Understanding Intact Stability of Ships, Marine
Insight, Available from:
< https://www.marineinsight.com/naval-architecture/intact-stability-of-surface-ships/>. (20
September 2019).
4. Ship Stability – Understanding Intact Stability of Ships - Marine ...., 25 Jan 2019,
<https://www.marineinsight.com/naval-architecture/intact-stability-of-surface-ships/>. (23
Sep 2019). [4]
10.0 Appendix
Figure 10.1 shows the apparatus used for the Metacentric Height experiment.