Theoretical Analysis of the Performance of a Self-Righting Boat

Abstract

A self-righting body is a highly specialized boat that immediately rolls back to an upright position during a catastrophic event in which the vessel is turned over. This capability can be a crucial “fail-safe” when operating in high-sea conditions and coastal areas. This paper used a theoretical method to study the behavior of the righting ability of a boat. The analysis of self-righting process of a boat include stability and rolling capability of the boat design. The stability and rolling capability are correlated with each other. The derivation of the motion equations for stability is performed and the rolling damping is neglected to simplify the problems. The recovery times and rolling cycle are calculated by solving the motion equations based on the integration method. The recovery time and rolling cycle were obtained for further application. The equations could be applied to aid the design of a floating boat with self-righting capability. The calculation results were compared with the model test results. The comparisons show the reliability of the method used in this paper.