Study on the Resistance of a Large Pure Car Truck Carrier with Bulbous Bow and Transom Stern

Abstract

The resistance of a large Pure Car Truck Carrier (PCTC) with a bulbous bow and a transom stern is evaluated in the present paper. Several cases at nine different ship speeds in calm water are simulated and results are compared with the experimental measurements. The maximum relative error is 0.93% at a Froude number (Fr) of 0.209. The total resistance coefficient of the ship in calm water shows a parabolic trend with increasing Fr, and it reaches a minimum value at Fr = 0.1794. Furthermore, the cases of the ship in regular waves with six different wavelengths and three wave heights are simulated. It is observed that the total resistance exhibits a quadratic relationship with the wavelength when the wave height is fixed. The wave-making resistance increases with the increase in wave height at any fixed wavelength, and it reaches a maximum value when the wave-length is 1.2 times the ship length (Lpp). Additionally, we also investigated the resistance in three different sea states at four different speeds. When the significant wave height of irregular waves is the same as regular waves, the wave-making resistance under irregular waves is much smaller than that of the regular waves. All of these results indicate that the bulbous bow and transom stern can reduce the wave-making and residuary resistances, which can provide a useful reference for the subsequent design and manufacturing of related ships.