MOTION IN IRREGULAR WAVES

SHIP RESPONSE

For many years, the assessment of

seakeeping performance at the design stage
progressed no further than comparison of ship
motions in regular waves.

The shortcomings of this approach were

widely recognised but further progress had to
await the development of new techniques.
SHIP RESPONSE
- Strip theory

- an idea of electronic filter ideology

developed in the field of
electronics and communication.
Strip Theory
 Strip Theory

M  a   b   c   Q0  e
  i e t

Solving these 6 equations requires the

evaluation of coefficients and excitation
amplitudes and phases.

These coefficients are determined from strip

theory.
 Representation of underwater Hull section

3D underwater form is represented by a series of 2D slices or strips.

 Assumptions of Strip Theory
• Ship is slender (i.e. L >> B or T)
• Hull is rigid (i.e. no flexure of structure
occurs)
• The motions are small
• The ship hull sections are wall sided
• Water depth >>  ( deepwater assumptions
may be applied)
• Presence of hull has no effect on waves
(Smith Corn. ignored)
Each strip has associated local hydrodynamic
properties such as :

• added Mass
• damping
• stiffness
• wave excitations
Strip theory assumes that these local
hydrodynamic properties are the same as
would be experienced if the strip were a part
of an infinitely long cylinder of same cross
sectional shape.
3D effects such as the following are ignored

• Mutual interference between the strips

• Flow leakage around the ends of the ship
• Effects due to changes in shape over the length
• The development and history of Strip Theory to
predict the ship motions can be refered from
literature.
• The flow field at any cross section of the strip may
be approximated by the assumed 2D flow in that
field.
• To obtain the total effect on the ship, the effect of
individual strips are integrated along the length.
• The essence of strip theory is to reduce a 3D
hydrodynamic problem to a series of 2D problems
which are easier to solve.
• For low frequencies and vessels with high
forward speed, strip theory assumptions are
no longer valid.
• The calculations are mathematically
intensive and require a computer to handle
it.
• The key to a successful strip theory
computer program for ship motions is to
have a good method to solve the 2 D
problem.
• Mathematically, the problem so defined is
called the mixed boundary value problem.
• There are many methods available to solve
it. In ship hydrodynamics, the popular
methods to solve this problem are
– boundary integral method
– multipole method
 Motion Damping

According to strip theory, the motion

damping arises because the oscillating hull
radiates waves away from ship. For most
motions, this constitutes a major mechanism
for dissipation of energy. So, strip theory
estimates of motion damping are generally
adequate and realistic motion predictions are
usually obtained.
 Rolling, however is an exception to this
general rule. The wave making damping b 44
predicted for the potential flow around most
hull forms is only a small fraction of the total
roll damping which is experienced in reality.
Sources of roll damping are

• Wave making
• Eddies
• Skin friction
• Appendage forces.
Sources of Roll Damping
Eddies : Hull forms with relatively sharp comes at
bilge's and/or at keel will shed eddies when
the ship rolls. This absorb a good deal of
energy and is a significant source of
additional roll damping.

Skin friction : Skin friction forces on a surface of a

rolling hull may also be significant.

Appendage forces: The appendages will generate forces

which oppose rolling motions.
 Eddy shedding, skin friction and
appendage forces experienced at low forward
speed arise because of influence of viscosity,
and are referred to as viscous roll damping.

Viscosity is neglected in strip theory.

 Wave making roll damping and damping
due to appendages forces at high forward
speeds are linear in nature (i.e. roll damping
moment  roll velocity())

However, viscous roll damping is non

linear and is generally proportional to square
of roll velocity  2
 This means that the pure sinusoidal roll
response to a sinusoidal wave input is no
longer valid.

The linear spectral calculations for motions

in irregular waves is also not applicable.
 In order to circumvent this unwelcome
problem, we have to calculate an equivalent
linear damping coefficient, which allows for
the non linearity's but is used in the linear
way.

This will allow us to continue to use the

linear equations of motion and the spectral
techniques for irregular wave calculations.
 The equivalent linear damping coefficient
is chosen so that the calculated energy
dissipated by this term in the equation of
motion is the same as that which is actually
dissipated by non linear effects.
 This means that the equivalent linear damping
coefficient depends on the roll motion being
experienced and a new value of damping must be
calculated for every situation.

Since the predominant rolling motions

experienced at Sea occur at natural roll frequency,
the treatment of roll damping non linearity's is
simplified by considering only motions at that
frequency.
 Electronic Filter Analogy
An electronic filter receives a signal that
contains a number of different frequency
components. These are amplified or
attenuated to produce some modified outpost
signal according to the characteristics of the
filter.

Examples : The low pass filter

attenuates high frequency components of
the input signal and allows the low
frequency components to pass.
 The analogy suggests that the ship can also
be regarded as a filter - not of electrical
signals, but of the waves.

A ship can be thought of as a black box

which receives the waves as input and
generates ship motions as output.

There are a number of different ship

motion outputs and so, regard the ship as a
collection of a number of filters, each with its
own characteristics.
 At low frequencies, the wave motions
are translated into corresponding motions
without attenuation or phase shift. As
frequency increases, (consider heave for
example) the motions are reduced and at high
frequencies, the input is completely
attenuated. So, there are no resulting heave
motions.
Response of a ship in an irregular seaway
follows the same statistical laws as do the
waves. Records of ship responses show
patterns similar to those of wave records.
 In the study of irregular waves, the spectral
calculations were carried out to yield the
useful parameters of a sea way.

Such spectral calculations are widely used

to in the study of seakeeping characteristics of
a ship in irregular seas.
 2
 
 
The plot of 0 
vs. e is called the response
spectrum.

This is the square of a particular motion

amplitude that the particular wave component
of that amplitude and frequency would
produce.
The response spectrum will give similar
statistical properties as found in the spectrum
of sea waves.
 Prediction in an irregular Seaway
Step1
Choose a suitable wave spectrum in which
the vessel is to operate.

 if a ship is designed for a particular

seaway, the wave spectrum for that
particular seaway should be chosen.
 if no particular spectrum is
available the ITTC spectrum is to be
chosen.
Step 2

The wave spectrum is to be transformed

into a spectrum where frequency of encounter
is considered instead of absolute wave
frequency.
 2U
e =   cos.
g
For the wave spectrum, the value of  on the
‘x’ axis (abscissa) is to be replaced by e using
the above relationship.

The area under the modified spectrum has to

be the same as that under the original spectrum
since the total energy remains the same. The
total energy and significant wave height of a
seaway do not change if the recording of the
seaway is made at a moving instead of a
stationary point.

Therefore the replacement of  by e on

abscissa would result in change in the values of
the ordinate (y axis).
  S  e d  e   S  d 
2
 
 e    cos 
g
d e 2 
 1  cos 
d g
 2  
 d e  d  1  cos   .
 g 

 S  e   1  2   cos   d   S  d 
 g 
S  
S  e 
  2   
 1    cos  
  g  
This can also be written in terms of  e as
S  
S  e 
  4   
 1    cos  
  g  
Step 3
The amplitudes of motion of interest can be
obtained either analytically or by experiment
with regular or irregular waves in a towing
tank.

A plot can therefore be obtained where the

ordinates represent amplitude of motion to the
base of e.
Step 4

The plot obtained in step 3 is converted to

RAO (Response Amplitude Operator).
2
 
  to the base of e gives the plot of RAO.
0 
RAO’s are functions that give the
amplitude of the oscillating motion of the ship
in a regular seaway of unit amplitude.

The RAO’s are obtained directly by

relating the amplitude of each motion to the
wave amplitude taken from simultaneous
recordings of motions and wave amplitudes.
Step 5 Calculation of Ship Response
Spectrum
It is assumed that
• The response of a vessel to any individual wave
component is independent of its response to any
other wave component. This means that the
response of the vessel to the seaway is the sum of
its responses to individual wave components that
comprise the seaway.
• The response of a vessel to any individual regular
wave component is a linear function of the
amplitude of this component.
 The spectral density function of ship
response is equal to the product of the spectral
density function of the waves and the RAO
S   e  S   e  H  e 2
S =e Spectral density function of ship
response.
S e  = Spectral density function of wave
spectrum.
H e  = RAO.
2
 This means that the ordinates of the motion
spectrum are obtained by multiplying the
ordinates of the encounter wave spectrum by
the RAO’s for the corresponding frequencies
of encounter.
S  e   S  e  H  e 
2

If any two quantities are known, the third

quantity can be found.
• If spectral density of waves and RAO of
ship is known, the spectral density of ship
can be found.
• If S e  and S e  are known their RAO can
be determined [RAO can be determined in
one run of model in irregular waves instead
of many runs in regular waves of different
].
• If measurement of RAO is carried out on
board a ship, S e  and RAO are known.
Then, the spectral density of the sea can be
calculated.
Step 6

Spectral Analysis techniques are then used

to determine the motion characteristics.

We have seen how the information can be

gained about waves from a wave spectrum.
Similarly, information can be got about ship
motion’s from the motion spectrum.
 - Average motion amplitude.
- Average of one-third highest
motion amplitudes.
- Highest motion amplitude.

All this information can be got from the

motion spectrum by calculating m o which is
the area under the motion spectrum.
Again, as in case of a wave spectrum, the
correction factor can be applied to account for
the broadness of motion spectrum.

rms motion  area under response spectrum  mo

 Matching of wave spectrum and
transfer function
• High transfer function ordinates occurring
at frequencies with a good deal of wave
energy will give large contributions to
motion energy spectrum.
• The rms motion depends on the extent to
which the motion transfer function
‘matches’ the wave spectrum.
 Effect of Wave Spreading
In general -
• wave spreading smoothes out more extreme
variations of motion.
• The effects are small for heave but quiet dramatic
for roll.
• Wave spreading results in significant roll motions
in following waves and to a lessen extent in head
waves.
• Wave spreading reduces roll motions at worst
heading by considerable amount
• wave spreading increases pitch motions in beam
waves but the effects at other headings are less
pronounced.