Ship Division ‘The work of the Ship Division is to study hydrodynamic problems which affect the performance of ships, peincipally by means of experiments with models. This work ean be broadly divided into two main parts; the first Is ‘made up of investigations directly commissioned by shipbuilders, shipowners and other outside organisations, while the second part isthe Division's own programme of research. The commissioned investigations are mostly design ‘studies for new ships, though an increasing aumber deal with unusual hydro- gmamie problems lated ter texting sips o other bodies which move through water; frequently these investigations become complex development projects requiring appreciable research effort. The results of the Disision’s programme of research into ship hydrodynamic problems lead ‘to improvements in ship design ether directly, or indirectly, by stimslatng, mprovements in the methods used in the commissioned work. SHIP: Headquarters of Ship Division at Felthar, {CC ‘The Ship Division is one of the longest established in the NPL; it ‘began in 1908 at Teddington and it has since grown steadily until, with the ‘opening in 1959 of the ship hydrodynamies laboratory at Feltham, ‘which now forms the headquarters of the Division, it has one of the best equipped modern laboratories ofits kind in the world. At Feltham there isa large towing tank 1 300 fc in length, 48 ft in breadth and 25 ft deep, which has a towing carriage capable of speeds up to 50 fijsec and a ‘wavemaker which can generate trains of regular and irregular waves up to 2 ft in height, There are also a seakeeping tank, two water tunnels ancl ‘a number of smaller research facilities. In addition there are two towing . tanks at Teddington both about 500 ft in length, and a large cireuleting | water channel now under construction at Feltham will be in operation early in 1965. ‘The complete programme of work of the Division can be conveniently divided into seven main groups. These are: (1) Resistance and propulsion of ships in smooth water and in waves, @) Ship motions, including manoeuvring and vibration. ) Ship propulsion devices. () High speed marine craft. (6) Design studies for new ships. (6) Hydrodynamies of surface and sub-surface bodies other than ships, (D Instrumentation development. “The investigations into the resistance and propulsion of ships are intended to extend our understanding of basic hydrodynamic phenomena, and to improve the propulsive performance of ships both in calm water and ‘the sea conditions encountered in service. Basic studies of flow pheno- | ‘mena, of the components of hydrodynamic resistance, and of the factors } Which influence ship propulsion, also lead to improved methods of pre~ dieting fulscale performance from the results of model experiments, vhile systematic experiments with methodical series of hull forms and propellers fre carried out to provide design data for immediate use, The more general study of the relations between model experiments and full-scale ship performance is a continuing interest of the Division, and the future ‘emphasis in these ship-model correlation investigations will be to deter- ‘mine the effects of waves on power requirements for ships of all types. In studying ship motions, the main aims are to develop ships with more kindly behaviour in waves, with improved manoeuvring qualities, and which do not suffer from propelle-excited vibration, The collection and analysis of reliable and accurate sea state data, using methods recently developed by oceanographers, is essential for investigations of ship behaviour at sea, and methods of simulating complex sea conditions have been developed to enable useful model experiments to be made. Recently the Division has successfully completed experiments giving much nesded 0SHIP: Testing a made! in the sea heeping tank ‘comparisons between model test results and those derived fram seakeeping trials with ships in which staff of the Division have taken an active part, and the extension of this work is one of the main research activities of the Division. The improvement of stabilising devices to control and reduce the rolling and pitching of ships is, of course, an ultimate purpose of these investigations, while better steering and course-keeping characterisies are also of increasing importance. Ship vibration is another complex motion problem; here the Division concentrates on determining the factors affecting the fluctuating propeller forces which are a major cause of ‘undesirable hull vibration, Improving the performance of ship propulsion devices is a continuing need; during recent years the main aim las been to extend the operating range over which cowentional marine screw propellers can maintain high efficiency, particularly under conditions in which it is often dificult, and sometimes impossible, to avoid cavitation—a phenomenon of flow breakdown in which cavities, filed with water vapour and air, form in critical regions. The development of propulsion devices for high powers at high speeds is an urgent problem, and work is in progress on uncon- ventional propellers, including shrouded screws, and fully-cavitating propellers in which the formation of cavitation is encouraged rather than avoided. In these investigations variable-pressure water tunnels are essential tools, though some valuable experiments on cavitation phenom= ‘ena can be made in the high speed towing tank Interest in high speed marine eraft is considerable, and there is a need for basic hydrodynamic data for the design of high speed displacement wteS eee ships, hydrofoil craft and hovercraft. The Division is actively engaged in this work; systematic experiments with models of fast displacement si and extensive design studies for hydrofoil ships of advanced type are carried out, 8 well as associated investigations into ventilated and ‘cavitating hydrofoils. The Division has 2 major rOle to play in the British effort in developing hovercraft by carrying out research into the basic hydrodynamic problems involved; these include analytical and experimen- tal studies of the wave resistance of air cushion vehicles and studies of the dynamic behaviour in waves of different types of hovercraft. In addition to the hydrodynamic design studies for new ships com- rmissioned directly by shipbuilders and shipowners, the Division carries ‘out similar studies of @ more general nature, These include critical asess- ‘ments of special ship features (such as bulbous bows) and the development of advanced hull and propeller design methods using the full potentialities, of high-speed computers. The Division also has longeestablished repu- tation for the design and development of the specialised equipment needed for its work in towing tanks and water tunnels, and this is an essential clement in its esearch programme, ‘The Division has close and friendly relations with many organisations, land has had direct and continuing links with most British shipbuilders and many shipowners for many years. In much ofits research prograrme, the Division works closely with the British Ship Research Association, with the Admiralty Experiment Works, and with the National Institute fof Oceanography, while specific items are joint efforts with the Nat onal Engineering Laboratory, the Ministry of Aviation, Hovereraft Develop sent Ltd., and the Meteorological Office. ‘SHIP: Large towing tank showing high speed carriage. 2