Model Tests for the Validation of Extreme Roll Motion Predictions

At present common stability criteria are based on practical knowledge gained from the operation of ships. Therewith the assessment of ship safety against capsizing is partly determined by long-term statistics of accidents. Regulations like the IMO-Resolution A 167 do not rate the typical seakeeping characteristics of different hull form geometries. Therefore strictly speaking, these criteria are just applicable for ships of similar types as included in statistics. Rapid development in ship design calls for the determination of ship and cargo safety in regard of extreme roll motions or capsizing during early design stage. Within the ROLL-S project, which was founded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, dynamic stability tests with a box shaped Container Ship and a RO-RO vessel have been performed. The performance of model tests, which are intended to serve for the validation of numerical simulation methods, put high demands on test and data acquisition techniques. The data of the waves encountered, course and position, as well as the response of the model had to be determined by model tests in order to use these data for the validation of numerical ship motion simulations. During the tests extreme roll motions of the two considered vessels could be observed in head seas and in following seas. Besides critical motion characteristics in following seas, like broaching, parametric induced roll motion effects were investigated in head sea condition. Remark: This paper should be read in conjunction with paper OMAE 2002-28297 which describes generation and transformation of the used waves.