Roll Motion of a Ship and the Roll Stabilising Effect of Bilge Keels

Abstract

The roll motion of a ship on waves is one of the six degrees of freedom and is the most difficult to predict since it deals with a motion similar to a spring-mass damper system, poorly damped by ship generated waves, in addition to the action of waves from the high seas. This problem increased from the second half of the 19th century when sailing propulsion was replaced by steam machines and iron replaced wood, which led to design modifications in ships affecting transversal stability, with the result of an increment in the ship's roll motion. As a consequence, it has been necessary to develop different systems which, on the one hand, increase the natural period of this motion in order to decrease its amplitude and reduce the risks that the wave encounter frequency would resonate with the natural frequency of the ship's motion; and on the other hand, to generate a damping effect to this motion. Bilge keels, passive stabilisers with no moving parts, form the simplest and cheapest element that may be incorporated on a ship to reduce this motion. This paper studies roll motion in general and then analyses bilge keels from different points of view.