Influence of inland vessel stern shape aspects on propulsive performance: Derivation of insights and guidelines based on a computational study

This research focuses on identifying the most important stern shape aspects, with regard to resistance and propulsion power, of inland ships. Such information should help designers to determine which hull form aspect to adjust in case design requirements need them to do so. The information is obtained by firstly conducting a large series of CFD...

A modification of the ITTC57 correlation line for shallow water

The ITTC57 correlation line, which is derived based on the assumption that the water in which ships advance is infinite deep and wide. However, for ships sailing in the waterway with limited water depth, the frictional resistance will be influenced leading to a decreasing accuracy of the prediction with this correlation line. In this study, a...

Hydrodynamic characteristics of multiple-rudder configurations

The manoeuvring performance of inland vessels is even more crucial than that of seagoing ships due to more complex navigation environment. One of the most effective possibilities to improve ship manoeuvrability is to change the rudder configuration. Twin or even quadruple rudders and high-lift profiles are widely applied to inland vessels. When...

Optimization of ships in shallow water with viscous flow computations and surrogate modeling

Shallow water effects change the flow around a ship significantly which can affect the optimum design of the hull. This paper describes a study into the optimization of the aft ship region for various water depths. The research focuses on variations of the following parameters of a hull form: The athwart ship’s propeller location, the tunnel top...

The influence of shallow water and hull form variations on inland ship resistance

Effects of a hull form variation and shallow water on a 110-meter inland ship are presented as preliminary results of the Top Ships project, which is initiated in order to improve inland ship design tools and design guidelines.

Design guidelines and empirical evaluation tools for inland ships

For inland ships, state-of-the-art hull form design is to a large extent based on experience, common sense, or adjusting previous designs. The idea therefore arises that further optimization is possible if the right knowledge is available. This knowledge is insufficiently available due to two main reasons. First, research into inland ship...

A proposal for standard manoeuvres and parameters for the evaluation of inland ship manoeuvrability

Inland ship manoeuvrability has more complex features than that of sea-going ships due to constrains of inland waterways and complicated ship configurations. In order to clarify the complexity of manoeuvring, impact factors of navigation environment and ship particulars are first analysed to point out the determinants for evaluation. After...

Design guidelines and empirical evaluation tools for inland ships

Investigation of inland ship resistance, propulsion and manoeuvring using literature study and potential flow calculations

Manoeuvring simulations can be of good use in determining whether an inland ship may be allowed access to a certain channel/river or not. The SURSIM mathematical model is able to predict the necessary manoeuvres and can therefore be used to determine the acceptance of ships on fairways. However, the SURSIM program is mostly developed for use...