The flow near the bow of a steadily turning ship

Abstract

The flow near the bow of a steadily turning ship is analysed using a modified slender-body theory. The rate of change of flow quantities in the longitudinal (x) direction is assumed to be greater than that implied by ‘conventional’ slender-body theory. As a consequence some features of high Froude number flow are apparent which cannot be predicted by the ‘conventional’ theory. The modified slender-body theory proposed requires the solution of a two-dimensional Laplace equation (in y and z) but its free-surface condition still involves an x derivative. A Fourier-transform method is used to solve this problem. A simple bow configuration of constant draft is analysed and numerical results for the free-surface elevation are presented.