Numerical study of bank effects on a ship travelling in a channel

Based on Dawson's method (1977), a modified numerical approach is developed to study the lateral force, yaw moment and ship wave patterns when a ship travels off the centerline of a rectangular channel. The free surface condition is linearized in terms of double model solutions and the Rankine sources are distributed over both the vessel and channel boundary surfaces to solve ship wave problems. Due to the asymmetry of the problem, the streamlines will no longer be symmetric as in an unbounded water domain. The free surface panels that are generated based on the streamlines of the double model solution are also asymmetric. Calculations with different ship to bank distances and water-depths have been carried out for a displacement ship at different speeds. The numerical results are compared with results of the model tests conducted in the Towing Tank facility at the Australia Maritime College (AMC). The results show how the geometrical parameters of the channel affect the hydrodynamic forces and ship waves.