A Boundary Element Method for Motions and Added Resistance of Ships In Waves

The accurate prediction of ship resistance in waves is nowadays of increased importance since it greatly influences ship performance regarding sustainable service speed and fuel consumption in seaways. Added resistance is considered as the longitudinal component of the second order mean force acting on a ship in waves and can be calculated from the first order ship motions by integrating the corresponding second-order pressure on the body surface. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for the prediction of motions and added resistance by a three dimensional Rankine panel method and to discuss and validate its results by comparing them with experimental data. The prediction in the short wave range, where forces due to wave reflection dominate, has been made applying semi-empirical corrections proposed by Kuroda. Experimental data for the heave, pitch, and added resistance of an ITTC benchmark KRISO container ship have been compared with numerical ones, and the applicability of the proposed method is discussed.