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Prediction of Slamming Behaviour of Monohull and Multihull Forms using

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Conference Paper · May 2011

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Prediction of Slamming Behaviour of Monohull and Multihull
Forms using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics
J.R. Shahraki & I. Penesis & G. Thomas
Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
M. R. Davis
School of Engineering, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
J.R. Whelan
INTECSEA, Perth, Western Australia

ABSTRACT: High-speed catamarans are increasingly being used for transportation in both
defence and commercial purposes due primarily to their advantages in fuel efficiency, speed and
flexible mission applicability. Improving their seakeeping behaviour to reduce discomfort as well
as keeping the structure as light as possible are two of the major issues naval architects are
extensively investigating. The impact of the bow into the water when operating in large waves,
better known as slamming, is a phenomenon which can cause serious damage to the structure as
well as reducing passenger comfort in high-speed catamarans. Therefore an understanding of this
phenomenon is crucial, as is the development of a method for accurately predicting the slam load
magnitude. Model wedge water-entry experiments, CFD, mathematical and empirical
formulations are conventional methods currently being employed to investigate slamming and
predict drop velocity, accelerations and pressure profiles on the hull surface. More recently, the
Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) technique has been applied to simulate wedge water-
entry problems due to its advantages in capturing rapid and large deflections in fluids. In this
work, SPH has been successfully used to simulate water-entry of a wedge in two-dimensions.
Also, the effect of important parameters such as artificial viscosity and numerical speed of sound
are investigated and comparisons with experimental results are presented. A wedge with side
plates has been simulated as a simplified representation of a catamaran bow section with
centrebow.

1 INTRODUCTION large waves causes an impact on the underside of

the cross deck structure, severe slam events occur
Catamarans currently have a wide range of
for high speed catamarans; these are known as
applications including use as car and passenger
wetdeck slams (see Figure 1). Local wetdeck and
ferries, pleasure boats and military vessels. Use of
global damage can occur in rough seas due to this
lightweight materials, such as aluminium and
phenomenon (Lloyd 1989; Thomas et al. 2003).
composites, provides these vessels an opportunity
to travel at high speed efficiently; however,
passenger comfort, vessel operability and
structural strength in waves are major issues which
still need further research. This is particularly
important for large high speed catamarans since
the design criteria are not yet clear or sufficiently
accurate (Heggelund et al. 2002).
High length to beam ratios and high Froude
Figure 1: An outline section of a large high speed catamaran.
numbers of catamaran demihulls suggest that the
tendency of the vessel to have large motions in the Since the demihulls are slender, there is often
longitudinal plane is high, thus large vertical insufficient reserve buoyancy to act as a restoring
velocities and displacements are expected at both force when it is needed to resist against large pitch
ends of the vessel. When the vessel motion in motions. This is a particular problem in following

IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011 1

seas when deck diving can occur with water
coming over the bow structure of a conventional
catamaran. The short centrebow acts as a solution
to this problem; a volume in the bow part which is
added to the cross deck between the demihulls,
stretches vertically downwards (see Figure 2).
For large high-speed catamarans fitted with
centrebows, there are several parameters affecting
the wet deck slamming behaviour, including
tunnel height and the position of the centrebow.
Several configurations of the centrebow in
catamarans are available, which have been
designed based on the designers’ experience or
their perception of the phenomena. There is often
not a coherent approach to design the centrebow
due to a lack of available information about its
effects on vessel behaviour. Hence, there is a need
for further research on the effects of different
centrebow shapes and tunnel heights on the
behaviour of the vessel at the sea.
Full-scale trials, model experiments and
numerical simulations are the common methods
employed to model slamming behaviour. A brief
discussion on each of these methods is presented
in the following sections.
Previous collaborative work between the
University of Tasmania and INCAT Tasmania, has
investigated the performance of wave piercing
catamarans in full-scale measurements and model
scale tests. The investigations have been focused
on the seakeeping, global wave loads and
slamming behaviour (Roberts et al. 1997; Thomas
et al. 2003; Davidson et al. 2006; Davis et al.
2007; Thomas et al. 2008; Amin et al. 2009). In
the present work numerical simulations using
Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) to
model slamming behaviour of wedge and
catamaran sections will be introduced and the
results will be compared to experimental data.
2 BACKGROUND
2.1 Full scale trials
Whilst slamming is of concern in many marine
applications (Faltinsen et al. 2004), in this work,
the special interest is on ship bow slamming. Due
to the importance of the phenomenon, much work
has been done to investigate the probability of its
occurrence or the effects of slamming (Lloyd
1989).
Conducting measurements on full-scale
vessels is an important method for investigating
slamming behaviour. A key finding has been the
IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011
identification of the range of slam events
experienced by high-speed catamarans. Full scale
tests on catamarans provide real measured data
and environmental conditions which can provide
an understanding of actual slam loads and their
effects on the ship. There have been a considerable
number of investigations on catamaran motions
and slamming behaviour at full scale. For example
Haugen and Faltinsen (1999) worked on a 30m
catamaran in which vertical acceleration and other
strains of the vessel during slamming were
measured and compared with a hydroelastic wet
deck model.
Full-scale tests were conducted by Roberts
et.al (1997) and Thomas et al. (2001; 2003; 2005)
on an 81m, a 96m and an 86m INCAT catamaran
and the slamming loads were found to be
significantly larger than the regular wave loads.
Figure 2: Condor Express, INCAT Hull042, an 86m car-
passenger wave piercing catamaran, the centrebow in front is
obvious (Photo: Barry Quince).
Although full-scale data is extremely valuable,
there are also some concerns connected with
conducting full scale experiments. Firstly data
acquisition is difficult; secondly, when analysing
the data it can be difficult to identify the slam
loads and to distinguish slam loads from global
wave loads. Also there is often little or no control
on environmental conditions and trial parameters
at the sea (Thomas et al. 2003). In the case of new
designs there is a need to investigate the problem
using other methods such as model experiments or
numerical simulations.
2.2 Model tests
Model tests are widely used to predict motions and
forces in marine applications. Wedge water-entry
(drop tests) and segmented model tests are used
for the investigation of slam events in model scale.
2
There are advantages in model scale tests: all the
environmental conditions can be controlled and
most of the required information can be captured
by sensors. Moreover, it is easier and cheaper to
change the test parameters and model
configurations. By means of model experiments, a
good understanding of the phenomena can be
gained and the basis for theoretical or numerical
formulations established. Dynamics and
kinematics of the model tests can then be scaled to
full size and used to predict the vessel’s full scale
behaviour.
2.2.1 Drop tests
Von Karman (1929) and, shortly after, Wagner
(1932) introduced the wedge water-entry problem
for wedges with small deadrise angles and also
suggested some analytical approaches which today
are considered fundamental solutions. Many works
have followed and improvements to Wagner’s
solutions have been presented in literature due to
the importance of the phenomenon. Zhao et al.
(1993; 1996; 1998) and Faltinsen (2002; 2004)
conducted a relatively intensive investigation
including experiments and analytical solutions on
the wedge water-entry problem and slamming.
Free falling and forced dropping of straight and
inclined sections were investigated.
To simulate the slamming of catamarans, drop
tests were performed by Whelan et al. (2004) and
Davis et al. (2007) for several centrebow
configurations at the University of Tasmania. A
two-dimensional study of drop kinematics of bow
sections was carried out, both theoretically and
experimentally. Drop speed, pressure distribution
and vertical acceleration were measured. Despite
the advantages of wedge water-entry tests the
predicted loads and pressures were found to be
unrealistically high when compared to full scale
results, especially for catamaran sections.
2.2.2 Hydroelastic segmented models
There have also been some investigations of the
slamming and whipping response of catamarans at
model scale, using hydroelastic segmented models
to examine the vessel structural response. Ge et al.
(2002) used a 5m segmented catamaran model
which had two transverse cuts and two
longitudinal cuts with strain gauges fitted to trace
the global response due to wetdeck slamming.
Lavroff (2009) developed a 2.5m hydroelastic
segmented scaled model of a 112m INCAT wave-
piercing catamaran. The model was tested in both
calm water and waves and the slamming,
IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011
whipping and motion response of the model was
investigated. The whipping modal response and
damping coefficients of the model were analysed
and important parameters which affect them were
demonstrated (Lavroff et al. 2007).
Hydroelastic segmented model tests are more
realistic than the wedge water-entry tests, since the
whole three-dimensional geometry and
environmental conditions are represented. Local
and global slam effects on the vessel can be
investigated and results are very useful in terms of
defining criteria for slam events and for predicting
the loads on the full vessels based on model test
results.
2.3 Numerical simulations
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been
used for the simulation of the wedge water-entry
problems. Different approaches using CFD are
available to analyse the fluid-structure interaction
phenomenon (Brizzolara et al. 2008).
The FORTRAN program BEAMSEA is a
software package developed at the University of
Tasmania which applies the Boundary Element
Method (BEM) and strip theory in time domain to
analyse the motions and behaviour of the vessel in
waves. Currently, work is being done to add a
slamming predictor to the program.
Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is a
mesh-free particle method that has been shown by
several authors (Doring et al. 2004; Oger et al.
2006; Viviani et al. 2009) to capture large
deformations in free surface flows due to its
Lagrangian nature, as well as its faster generation
of input data. Whilst Veen (2011) has applied
SPH to the problem of a wedge with side plates,
the outcome was uncertain due to the singular
nature of conditions at the point where the cross
section fills with fluid particles completely. In the
present work a further attempt is made to simulate
entry of a wedge with side-plates as a pre-cursor to
investigating the section of a catamaran with
centrebow.
3 SMOOTHED PARTICLE
HYDRODYNAMICS (SPH)
3.1 SPH methodology
Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is a
computational method used for simulating fluid
flows. It has been used in many fields of research,
including astrophysics and oceanography. It is a
3
 
$$$) %, %.
 * +, - & & Π., 0 $#. ., & '
mesh-free Lagrangian method (where the
 ", ".
(4)
coordinates move with the fluid), and the
resolution of the method can easily be adjusted ,

where ' is the gravitational acceleration and

with respect to variables such as the density.

.,  . , , . Π., is the viscosity term

It has several benefits over traditional grid-
based techniques as it guarantees conservation of

2., 3.,
mass since the particles themselves represent defined as
., ., 4 06
Π.,  1 ".,
mass; and computes pressure from weighted
contributions of neighboring particles rather than (5)
by solving linear systems of equations. Also, 0 ., ., 4 0
$89 :89
7
3.,  =   0.01 and
unlike grid-base techniques it creates a free surface
:  89 ;<
for two-phase interacting fluids directly since the where with
particles represent the denser fluid (usually water) .,  . , is the relative velocity between the
particles. The term 2.,  @ A, where 2 is the
and empty space represents the lighter fluid ? ;?

speed of sound in each particle and  is a constant
(usually air). For these reasons, it is possible to
simulate fluid motion using SPH in real time.
Therefore, as long as the inter-particle relations are chosen according to the problem. Artificial
defined correctly, the particles are free to go viscosity is used to stop the unphysical behaviour
anywhere (Liu et al. 2003). of fluid particles, smears out the shocks and
Monaghan (1988; 1992) was first to introduce contact discontinuities.
SPH to astronomical problems, and shortly after To develop the continuity equation, fluid
applied it successfully to free surface flows density changes can be calculated in SPH using

".
(Monaghan 1994). Equation (6).
 * +, ., $#. .,

A number of notations and mathematical (6)
,
approaches to describe SPH are documented. A
brief overview is presented here with notations
The equation of state for determining the fluid
A function
 can be represented as an
similar to that of Liu et al. (2003).
" G
pressure is given by Equation (7)
%  B CD F 1H
vector  as shown in Equation (1): "E
integral form of the three-dimensional position (7)

where I  7 and B  in which "E 

?K  LK
G
 

  
  ,  

1000M' +NO
(1)
the reference density and
2E  2"E   6P S the speed of the sound at
 QR
in which  is smoothing function or kernel QL
function and  is the smoothing length. The kernel LK
the reference density. The speed of sound, 2E , is a
function has similar properties to the Dirac Delta
numerical speed of sound which is always taken as
function.
less than the actual speed of sound in water and
One of the common kernel functions is the
normally more than 10 times the fluid maximum
Gaussian, which is shown in Equation (2):
bulk velocity (Viviani et al. 2009). Equation (7) is
,    exp     (2) derived from the assumption that the fluid is

where  is given as  in two-dimensions.

weakly compressible, so there is no need to solve


Poisson’s equation.
Particle movements are smoothed using the
The momentum conservation equation in a
$) +,
XSPH formulation proposed by Monaghan (1989),
 1  . ε *  
continuum field is given by
 # $
$% & ' & Θ  "., ,. .,
 "
(3) (8)
,
where Θ in Equation (3) refers to the diffusion where ε is a constant normally 0 U ε U 1, but with
terms and P is the pressure. To complete the most incompressible fluids chosen as 0.3 (Liu et
momentum equation, there are different al. 2003). This correction keeps the particles more
approaches to the diffusive terms. Artificial orderly and prevents unphysical particle
viscosity proposed by Monaghan (1992) is the interaction.
most common and is given as Equation (4)

IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011 4

3.2 Water-entry of vessel sections with SPH changes introduced to model the different wedge
geometries and allow for the dropping of a rigid
Drop tests are a common technique for
section from a certain height above water level.
investigating the slamming problem
The governing equations in the SPHysics solver
experimentally.
are shown in Section 3.1. The code has been
validated for a number of benchmark cases
available on the website.
To simulate the drop test, a two-dimensional
tank with dimensions 2.4m length and 0.3m width
(as used by Whelan (2004)) has been adopted.
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 [m] 0.3
0

-0.1
P4
P3
P2
-0.2 P1

[m]

-0.3

Figure 4. Dimensions of the 25 degree deadrise angle wedge

with side-plates. P1, P2, P3 and P4 are the position of
pressure transducers (Whelan 2004).

Figure 5 shows the particle arrangement in the

bottom right corner of the domain. The fluid
particles and boundary particles were modelled
using a staggered approach to prevent unnecessary
Figure 3. experimental facilities of drop tests at University of penetration of particles through the boundary
Tasmania (Whelan 2004). walls. The Dalrymple dynamic boundary
condition (Gomez-Gesteira et al. 2010) was
Comprehensive results of drop test adopted to model the solid walls of the tank and
experiments are available from previous works by unlike the fluid particles these are fixed. As the
Whelan (2004). Figure 3 shows the drop test fluid particles approach the boundary, the pressure
facility at the University of Tasmania used in these increases and generates a repulsive force which
experiments. It consists of a vertical tower with prevents the particles escaping.
guide tracks to drop the entry section from various
heights. The tank is of 2.4m length and 0.3m
width, filled with water of 1m in depth. Different
wedge and other cross-sectional models were
fitted with pressure sensors and an accelerometer
and the tests were filmed with a high-speed
camera. The tank is made from glass to allow the
water-entry to be filmed. Some of the water-entry
sections of Whelan’s experiments (such as Figure
5) are modelled using SPH. Pressure sensor
positions, named P1 to P4 are shown on the body
plans. The 25 degree wedge is the same as the
section shown in Figure 5 but without the side-
plates.
The open source code of SPH called
SPHysics (SPHysics http://www.sphyisics.org) has
been adopted as a base code with significant Figure 5. Particle arrangement on the bottom right corner of
the tank.

IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011 5

 The wedge drop section as seen in Figure 10 is
simulated using the same type of particles used to
create the boundary. The weight per length and the
drop height was extracted from Whelan’s (2004)
experimental results. These were determined by
scaling and non-dimensionalising slam events of
real ocean vessels. For the 25 degree deadrise
angle wedge, the drop height was chosen so that
the wedge velocity when it hits the water was the
same as in the experiments.
to time is a good indicator to assess the motions
predicted by SPH.
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 25-degree wedge water entry
A sample comparison of drop distance, vertical
velocity, vertical acceleration and pressure time
history (at location P3) of the 25 degree wedge of
72.25kg/m and drop height from water level to the
side knuckles of 0.192m is shown in
Figure 7 to Figure 10.

Pressure

Figure 6. Initial general arrangement and pressure field of

the tank and drop section in SPH.
Figure 7. Plot of the vertical drop distance comparing
Due to the weakly compressible assumption of numerical results obtained using SPH with experiments by
the fluid in the equation of state, the speed of Whelan (2004) for the 25 degree wedge.
sound and the coefficient of artificial viscosity
play significant roles in the accuracy as well as
computational time of the SPH simulations.
Therefore, a set of simulations was completed to
investigate the effect of these parameters with two
particle spacing’s (P.S.) of 0.01m and 0.005m. In

to be Gaussian (   0.93X2 %. Z.  ) and the

these simulations the kernel function was chosen

time stepping scheme was the Predictor-Corrector

described by Monaghan (1989).
To investigate the accuracy of the SPH
simulations, the accelerations, vertical velocity,
submersion and pressures relative to time are
predicted and compared to experimental results by
Whelan (2004). These parameters are of
importance as the general structure and seakeeping Figure 8. Plot of the drop velocity comparing numerical
of the ship in waves is of interest. In the slam results obtained using SPH with experiments by Whelan
(2004) for the 25 degree wedge .
events, if the amount of kinetic energy which the
vessel needs to absorb is to be simulated, the Note that the pressures shown in Figure 10 are the
vertical velocities and accelerations must be
normal to the wedge surface of dimensions 5 by
average of the fluid particles in a square region
considered. The peak local pressure is also
important if the local structure stiffening is of 4 where  is the smoothing length (Oger et al.
interest. Also, the progressive submersion relative

IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011 6

] is chosen as 0.5.
2006; Viviani et al. 2009). Also from equation (8) the compression of fluid caused by gravity (the
lower the speed of sound is, the more compressible
the fluid becomes).
90% Acceleration error P. S.=0.01

Relative Error (in time)

80% Acceleration error P. S.=0.005
Velocity error, P. S.= 0.01
70% Distance error, P. S.=0.01
Distance error, P. S.= 0.005
60%
Velocity error, P. S.= 0.005
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Artificial Viscosity Coefficint, (α)

Figure 11. Plot of the relative error (in time) of the SPH

coefficient (α) (with 2E 40m/s) for the 25 degree wedge.

simulations for varied values of the artificial viscosity
Figure 9. Plot of the vertical acceleration comparing
numerical results obtained using SPH with experiments by
Whelan (2004) for the 25 degree wedge. 45%
Relative Error (in time)
velocity error 0.01
40% distance error 0.01
35% velocity error P.S. 0.005
30% distance error P.S 0.005
acceleration P.S. 0.01
25%
acceleration P.S. 0.005
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0 50 100 150 200 250
Sound Speed (m/s)

Figure 12. Plot of the relative error (in time) of the SPH

coefficient (2E ) (with   0.01) for the 25 degree wedge.

simulations for varied values of the speed of sound

As is shown in Figure 11, for the lower

Figure 10. Plot of the pressure at P3 comparing numerical
results obtained using SPH with experiments by Whelan
(2004) for the 25 degree wedge.
Figure 11 andFigure 12 show the relative error
(in time) in the results obtained for the vertical
velocity, distance travelled and peak acceleration
associated with changing the artificial viscosity
coefficient (α) and speed of sound (c0)
respectively for both particle spacing’s 0.005m
relative error  Xfgh – Xjkl /Xfgh and averaged
and 0.01m. The relative error was calculated using
over the complete simulated drop time. Maximum
values were used to determine the relative error for
the acceleration.
A drop in water level between 0 to 0.005m
occurs when a low speed of sound is used. This
arises because the fluid particles leak through the
fixed tank wall due to the small repulsive forces or
artificial viscosity, the vertical velocity and drop
distance travelled matches quite well with the
experimental results, with the accuracy reducing as
the artificial viscosity increases. It could be
concluded that the lower artificial viscosity is
more suitable for such simulations, since the
particles are more free to move based on
momentum equation. Unphysical behaviour does
not occur from the fluid particles here since there
is no large discontinuity or phase change. With the
particle size of 0.005, the peak acceleration has
greater accuracy when a low viscosity is used.
Whilst in the case of the drop peak acceleration,
for a particle size 0.01m, the error is high at low
viscosity, decreasing with increasing viscosity.
This behaviour in acceleration does not follow the
other trends, thus needs further investigation.

IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011 7

 The effect of varying the speed of sound is particle size was adopted for the simple wedge
shown in Figure 12. The relative error does not geometries. Overall, the simulations show
show a monotonous trend. For a speed of sound of satisfactory accuracy in determining the motions
40m/s the error trends have a local peak. The for a simple wedge. Further work is being

results, as shown in the Figure 13 (2E  40m/s).

reason could be found in the trend of acceleration conducted for more complex geometries in an aim
to predict catamaran slamming phenomena.
There is a large local minimum after the first and
highest peak and this could be due to the effect of 4.2 Water-entry of a 25 degree wedge with
the tank walls. The total drop time is very small;
sideplates
therefore, in lower speed of sounds, pressure

Specifically for the case when 2E  40m/s, when

waves take longer to hit the tank walls and return. A 25 degree wedge with two side-plates with a
section weight of 72.25 kg/m and drop height from
it strikes the side wall of the drop section, there is central wedge bottom of 0.082m was simulated in
an effect on the drop motion. The higher the speed SPH. The snapshot of the slam is shown in Figure

size of 0.005m,   0.01, 2E  15m/s and

of sound is, the higher are the frequency of the 14. The best results were obtained for a particle

]  0.3. Results are shown in Figure 15 to 19.

acceleration fluctuations; therefore, the
submersion and vertical velocity accuracy
changes. As in the experiments, due to the real
speed of sound (around 1500m/s), the frequency of
these oscillations in accelerations is much higher
and does not change the overall trend. Further
work is needed to be done on the effects of speed
of sound and tank dimensions on wall reflections
and energy absorptions.
For a speed of sound of 15m/s there is a
reduction in the error for the wedge displacement,
vertical velocity and peak acceleration. This could
be a good basis on which to commence simulation
of further geometries. Figure 14. A snapshot of water-entry of the wedge with side-
plates.

Figure 15. Plot of the vertical drop distance comparing

Figure 13. Plot of the drop acceleration when comparing numerical results obtained using SPH with experiments by

Whelan (2004) for the 25 degree wedge with 2E  40m/s

numerical results obtained using SPH with experiments by Whelan (2004) for the 25 degree wedge with side-plates.

and   0.01.

Running the simulations using smaller

particles increases the computational time
significantly (more than 10 days) so the larger

IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011 8


Figure 16. Plot of the drop velocity comparing numerical
results obtained using SPH with experiments by Whelan
(2004) for the 25 degree wedge with side-plates.
Figure 17. Plot of the vertical acceleration comparing
numerical results obtained using SPH with experiments by
Whelan (2004) for the 25 degree wedge with side-plates.
Figure 18. Plot of the pressure at P4 comparing numerical
results obtained using SPH with experiments by Whelan
(2004) for the 25 degree wedge with side-plates.
IX HSMV Naples 25 - 27 May 2011
The results show that the numerical results
obtained using SPH follow the overall trend of the
experimental results, but with less accuracy than
achieved for the simple wedge. Although the
deceleration trend has some deviation the
prediction of peak drop acceleration is quite good.
The peak acceleration for the wedge with side-
plates is higher than that measured in the
experiments by Whelan (2004). The most likely
cause of this the effect is the air cushion generated
underneath the highest point of the section by
entrained gas elements which do not vent freely in
the model tests. In SPH this effect could be
represented by increasing the compressibility of
the water so as to compensate for the
compressibility of the air bubbles trapped within
the section at the top of the arch. There are also
some fluctuations in the predicted pressure profile,
which could have been caused by the movements
of separate particles at the spray root around the
measured area.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Investigation of slamming for surface piercing
catamarans is an ongoing subject of research.
However, not much work has been done on the
effect of hull form, specifically the presence of a
centrebow and magnitude of the tunnel height.
Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, as a numerical
approach has been used here successfully on
simple wedge water-entry to simulate a monohull
vessel slamming. Simulations achieved errors of
less than 5% in drop velocity and progressive
submersion and approximately 30% in drop peak
acceleration. Pressure on the side walls were
predicted by averaging fluid particles pressure
around the desired point. To approach the
slamming of a catamaran with a centrebow, a
simple wedge with two side-plates was also
investigated in SPH, the results are less accurate
but promising. Further work is needed to improve
the results for two-dimensional simulations of
realistic ship cross sections.
6 REFERENCES
Amin, W., M. R. Davis, G. A. Thomas and D. S. Holloway
(2009). Slamming quasi-static Analysis of an 98m Incat
high-speed wave piercing catamaran. International
Conference for Innovation in High Speed Marine Vessels.
Fremantle, Australia.
Brizzolara, S., N. Couty, O. Hermundstad, A. Ioan, T.
Kukkanen, M. Viviani and P. Temarel (2008).
9
"Comparison of experimental and numerical loads on an
impacting bow section." Ships and Offshore Structures 3(4):
305 - 324.
Davidson, G., T. Roberts and G. Thomas (2006). "Global
and Slam Loads for a Large Wave piercing Catamaran
Design." Australian Journal of Mechanical Engineering 3(2):
155-164.
Davis, M. R. and J. R. Whelan (2007). "Computation of
wet deck bow slam loads for catamaran arched cross
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