Side wall effects on ship model testing in a towing tank

• Published in: Ocean engineering 2018-01, Vol.147, p.447-457
• Main Authors: Yuan, Zhi-Ming, Zhang, Xinshu, Ji, Chun-Yan, Jia, Laibing, Wang, Huaming, Incecik, Atilla
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Forward speed; Rankine source method; Shallow water; Ship model testing; Side wall effects
• ISSN: 0029-8018; 1873-5258
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2017.10.042

Due to the existence of the side walls in a towing tank, the measured hydrodynamic forces would present some discrepancies compared to the open sea results. This phenomenon is referred to as the side wall effect. The objective of the present study is to investigate the side wall effects on ship model testing in a towing tank. The method used in the present study involves a 3D panel method based on the Rankine type Green function. Both the steady and unsteady problems were investigated numerically. The numerical results were validated against ship model test results. After the validations, a large scale computations were performed to investigate the parameters which could determine the side wall effects. Two diagrams of side wall effects (one in calm water and the other one in waves), were obtained which showed whether the side wall effect was less than the permissible error to be included in the measured values. •Develop a 3D BEM programme to investigate side wall effects.•Side wall effects in calm water tests have been studied analytically and numerically.•Side wall effects in waves have been estimated based on massive numerical computations.•Depict two diagrams showing whether side wall effects are expected in clam water and in waves.