Stability &

Buoyancy
Objectives
Principles of Stability
Archimedes Principle
Terminology of ships hydrostatics
Stability & moments -> staying upright
Metacenter, Center of Gravity, Center of
Buoyancy, etc.
Stability curves
Principles of Stability
Floating object is acted on by forces of gravity
and forces of buoyancy
Static equilibrium SF
i
= 0
Three conditions of static equilibrium:
Stable: return to same position if tipped
Neutral: when rotated, will come to rest in any
position
Unstable: will come to rest in new position if force
acts on it

Archimedes Principle
Law: a body floating or submerged in a
fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the
weight of the water it displaces
Depth to which ship sinks depends on
density of water (r = 1 ton/35ft
3

seawater)
Archimedes Principle
Ship sinks until weight of water
displaced by the underwater volume is
equal to the weight of the ship
Forces of gravity: G = m
ship
g =W
ship
Forces of buoyancy: B = r
water
V
displaced


W
ship
= r
water
V
displaced
Archimedes Principle
Forces act everywhere on ship -> too
tough to analyze
Center of Gravity (G): all gravity forces
as one force acting downward through
ships geometric center
Center of Buoyancy (B): all buoyancy
forces as one force acting upward
through underwater geometric center
Archimedes Principle
Center of Gravity (G):
Changes position only by change/shift in
mass of ship
Does not change position with movement of
ship
Center of Buoyancy (B):
Changes position with movement of ship ->
underwater geometric center moves
Also affected by displacement
G
Hydrostatics Terminology
Displacement: total weight of ship = total
submerged volume of ship (measured in tons)
Draft: vertical distance from waterline to keel at
deepest point (measured in feet)
Reserve Buoyancy: volume of watertight portion
of ship above waterline (important factor in
ships ability to survive flooding)
Freeboard: vertical distance from waterline to
main deck (rough indication of reserve
buoyancy)
Hydrostatics Terminology
As draft & displacement increase,
freeboard and reserve buoyancy decrease

Moments
Defn: tendency of a force to produce
rotation or to move an object about an
axis
Distance between the force and axis of
rotation is the moment arm
Couple: two forces of equal magnitude in
opposite and parallel directions,
separated by a perpendicular distance
G and B are a couple
Moments
Depending on location of G
and B, two types of
moments:
Righting moment: tends to
return ship to upright position
Upsetting moment: tends to
overturn ship
Magnitude of righting
moment:
RM = W * GZ (ft-tons)
GZ: moment arm (ft)
Metacenter
Defn: the intersection
of two successive
lines of action of the
force of buoyancy as
ship heels through
small angles (M)
If angle too large, M
moves off centerline
Metacenter
Metacentric Height
(GM)
Determines size of
righting/upsetting arm
(for angles < 7
o
)
GZ = GM*sinf
Large GM -> large
righting arm (stiff)
Small GM -> small
righting arm (tender)

Metacenter
Relationship between G and M
G under M: ship is stable
G = M: ship neutral
G over M: ship unstable
STABLE UNSTABLE
Metacenter v. Stability Curves
At this point, we could use lots of
trigonometry to determine exact values
of forces, etc for all angles -> too much
work
GM used as a measure of stability up to
7, after that values of GZ are plotted at
successive angles to create the stability
curve
Stability Curve
Stability Curve
Plot GZ (righting arm) vs. angle of heel
Ships G does not change as angle changes
Ships B always at center of underwater portion of
hull
Ships underwater portion of hull changes as heel
angle changes
GZ changes as angle changes

Questions?