Ship-Shape!

Ship-Shape!
Exploring the physics of ship design

Exploring the physics of ship design

Session outline:
The social and economic
benefits of shipping

How ships are designed

How to test if your ship is

doing its job

Design and build your very

own ship!
 The Benefits:
Shipping in our everyday
lives
Employs 250,000 in the UK
Generates £37 billion to UK economy per year

The fishing industry provides us with a good source of protein for

our diets
Cargo shipping provides us with 95% of the products we use on a
day-to-day basis
Did you know?

British shipping earns the UK economy £162 per second!*

*SeaVision UK
 How ships are designed
Considering the shape of ships
When naval architects and marine engineers design
and build ships, they have to follow a certain number
of rules…
Two of the most important are:

1 They have to float and stay upright

– Looks at Buoyancy and Stability
of ships

2 They have to be able to move –

Looks at Power (thrust) and Drag
on ships
 1 - Buoyancy and Stability
Buoyancy Weight
Keeping afloat
When forces are balanced: Ships float
Lower density - greater buoyancy
due to higher displacement of
surrounding water – Archimedes Upthrust

Stability
Staying upright
Greater buoyancy – less stable
Requires a low centre of gravity
 2 - Power (thrust ) and Drag
When forces are balanced: ships are stationary

Thrust Force = Drag Force

However,

Ship’s engines must provide enough power (thrust) to overcome

drag (water resistance, which is a form of friction) so that:

Thrust Force > Drag Force

So that ship’s can move

through the water and
transport cargo from A to B!
Generating thrust on a ship
HEAT

Fuel

Engine

Oxygen Combustion
HC’s + O2  CO2 + H20

Work done
 The Shape of Ships
Buoyancy and Stability
How stable and buoyant a ship is has a lot to do with
its shape:

- Depth of cargo hold

Vs.
Deep Shallow

-Surface area in
contact with water
Low Vs. High
 The Shape of Ships
Resistance and drag
How resistant to drag a ship is has a lot to do with its
shape:

- Streamlining
Vs.
Curved Straight
edged

- Surface texture
Vs.
Smooth Rough
So shape clearly has an influence over how
good, or efficient a ship is

…but how do we test this efficiency?

 How to test if your ship is doing its
job: a really simple equation

How good (efficient) a ship is at doing its job can be measured by

the amount of cargo carried per unit fuel, using the really simple
equation:

Efficiency = Weight of cargo carried (g)

Units of fuel used (money)

…because it makes them more:
Cost effective: A streamlined shape lowers drag and the
amount of fuel needed to provide the power (thrust) to
move ships from A to B.

Environmentally friendly: lowering the amount of fuel

needed to transport ships from A to B means less
pollution to the atmosphere and surrounding
water.
 Design, build and test your
very own ship!
The design and build
Step 1 – Using your marker pen, draw as
accurately as possible a 3D outline of a
ship onto your block of foam

Step 2 – Cut out your ship shape FRONT BACK

(bow) (Stern)
using the hack saws and safety rulers
provided
Step 3 – To make your cargo hold, draw a box
using your marker pen and score around it using
a Stanley knife and safety ruler. Score across the
box too. Using a flathead screwdriver, tease the
pieces of foam out until you have a cargo hold.
Sand the whole design down to a smooth finish
and decorate using waterproof marker pens.
Some examples of previously
designed ships
 Design, build and test your
very own ship!
The test
Stability – Does it float and does it stay upright?

Stability testing tank

Design, build and test your
very own ship!
The test
Resistance – How much cargo (metal nuts) can your
ship carry for the lowest amount of fuel (money)

Bow line
(fair test)
Towing point
(screw)
Towing line
(cotton thread)

Water flow
(small bag)

(washers)
Rubber tubing Water exit hole
(Attached to a fast running tap to generate flow) (To keep flow maintained)

i.e. how efficient is it!?

 Physics in the real world:
Exactly how its done in the business!

Newcastle University’s Towing Tank

 Physics in the real world:
Your experiment

Efficiency = Weight of cargo carried

Units of fuel used (money)

 Results
Team name Weight of cargo Fuel (money) required Efficiency of ship
(g) (Number of coins) (Weight of cargo /
amount of coins
(money)
1 -

2 -

3 -

4 -