The Simulation of Ship Motions Using a B-Spline–Based Panel Method in Time Domain

Abstract

In this paper, a B-spline-based higher-order method is developed for simulating three-dimensional ship motions with forward speed. The problem is formulated in time domain using a transient free surface Green function. The body geometry is defined by open uniform or nonuniform B-spline basis functions depending on the hull type, whereas the unknown field variables are described by open uniform B-spline basis functions. The collocation method is applied to discretize the integral equation and then solved for the unknown potentials and source strengths. Motion computations in head waves are carried out for three types of ship hulls: a mathematically defined Wigley hull, a typical containership (S175 hull), and a Series 60 hull. Results are obtained for regular and irregular waves and compared with available experimental and computational results. It is found that the results from the present method are in very good agreement with the published results, and in particular with experimental data. Long-duration simulations have also been carried out with an ordinary desktop PC (PIV with 512 MB RAM) to demonstrate the ability of the method to simulate motions over long periods without any visible deterioration using only modest computational resources.