Abstract
This paper describes in detail the hydrodynamic issues examined in the development of aft body hull form equipped with three azimuth thrusters. Hydrodynamic performance considered include roll damping, transit performance, thruster interference with hull and with other thrusters, and stern slamming. Constructability issues which may be encountered during a fabrication stage are discussed. Two issues are examined; bilge keel and headbox.
The transit performance is assessed using model testing and CFD simulation. The conventional barge-type hull without headbox leads to much lower resistance. However, when large headboxes are added, the transit performance for the two hulls is almost similar to each other. The thruster-hull and thruster-thruster interactions are examined using CFD simulation. The results clearly show that the flat bottom hull leads to lower thruster-hull interaction and provides greater flexibility of thruster arrangement.