ARTICLE IN PRESS

Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Ocean Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/oceaneng

Computation of inertial and damping characteristics of ship sections in

shallow water
S. Sutulo, J.M. Rodrigues, C. Guedes Soares 
Centre for Marine Technology and Engineering (CENTEC), Technical University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

a r t i c l e in f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 11 November 2008
Accepted 22 June 2009
Available online 14 July 2009

Hydrodynamics of 2D contours representing ship sections is considered for the case of small harmonic
oscillations with a modication of a boundary-integral-equation method implemented earlier for the
deep-uid case. Alterations of the algorithm required by the nite-depth case are described in the
present study and a number of numerical results are given.
These include comparison with another code for the case of at horizontal bottom and comparative
calculations made for the case of the abrupt change of depth near the ship (stepped bottom). The results
can be used for estimation of the bottoms inuence on the manoeuvring and seakeeping qualities of ships.
& 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Shallow water hydrodynamics
Vibrating ship sections
Boundary integral equation
Stepped bottom

1. Introduction
Slenderness of most ship hulls encouraged creation of
simplied hydrodynamic models exploiting this property. Namely,
in many cases it was possible to neglect the longitudinal ow
gradients and to apply the strip method which effectively reduces
the natural 3D formulation to the two-dimensional one. During
decades, this was the only practical method for theoretical
treatment of seakeeping and manoeuvring problems, where
transverse loads could be reliably enough estimated by means
of the 2D hydrodynamics. However, some attempts to apply
similar approaches to the wave resistance problem, where the
longitudinal resistance force is of major interest, have practically
failed. Similarly, longitudinal forces could not be predicted by the
strip method in seakeeping-and-manoeuvring problems, where
they were usually estimated empirically or semi-empirically.
One of the most known example of a matured seakeeping strip
theory was presented by Salvesen et al. (1970). Certain limitations
of the strip method, especially at higher Froude numbers,
stimulated its extensions allowing for partial account for 3D
effects (Bertram, 2000). At the same time, purely 3D codes started
to develop primarily with applications to non-slender maritime
structures, where strip methods could not be expected to bring
satisfactory results. Three-dimensional codes were also applied to
slender vessels, but improvements in accuracy in many cases were
at best uncertain, while the CPU-time requirements were much
higher. However, latest progress in computing power predetermined a slight natural drift towards 3D codes. At the same

 Corresponding author.

E-mail address: guedess@mar.ist.utl.pt (C. Guedes Soares).

0029-8018/$ - see front matter & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2009.06.013

time, it is denitely premature to consider as obsolete the strip

method which is often much more efcient. Its development still
keeps advancing especially when it goes about hybrid seakeepingand-manoeuvring problems or nonlinear formulations (Sutulo
and Guedes Soares, 2008; Bandyk and Beck, 2008) or hydroelastic
formulations (Xia and Wang, 1997). Besides that, the strip method
is nowadays regarded as a quite adequate tool for educational
purposes, which encouraged development of an open source strip
code PDSTRIP (Bertram et al., 2006). One of the possible
extensions of existing strip codes is their adaptation to the
shallow-water situation which is extremely important from the
viewpoint of determining tidal and weather windows for large
ships approaching harbours (Vantorre et al., 2008).
The keystone of every strip method are hydrodynamic
characteristics of the ship sections, usually related to their
small-amplitude oscillations within a certain frequency interval,
and this predetermines the problem considered in the present
paper. It is also important to bear in mind that low-frequency data
corresponding to the horizontal motions can also be useful for
maneuvering problems (Zhao, 1986). Viscous effects, which are
especially important for the horizontal modes, are then taken into
account just by means of articial reduction of the transverse load
acting on the aft part of the body (Fedyaevsky and Sobolev, 1964).
While the similar deep-uid problem was investigated more
extensively, enough to mention classic works by Ursell (1949),
Grim (1953), Frank (1967), publications on the shallow-water
oscillating contours are much less numerous. Probably, the rst
systematic study of the nite-depth radiation problem belongs to
Keil (1974). However, his solution, as presented also by Journe e
and Adegeest (2003), was based on the Lewis conformal mapping
and is only valid for a limited family of sections. Yeung (1973,
1982) developed a boundary-integral-equation method, suitable

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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

for arbitrary sections, primarily just for the nite depth, although
the innite-depth generalization was also provided: all the
calculations were performed for the nite depth and the limiting
deep-water case was treated as a very large nite depth. As the
Yeung method seemed to be very promising as free of irregular
frequencies and potentially applicable to domains of arbitrary
shape, it was further modied by Sutulo and Guedes Soares
(2004) aiming at better fulllment of the body boundary
condition. At that time, this latter method was only implemented
and veried for the case of innite depth. Now, the code was
extended to the shallow-water case with arbitrary shape of the
bottom. Results of its verication and application to the poorly
explored case of the stepped bottom modeling the situation that
can be encountered when the ship is moving along or near a
dredged channel are described and discussed in the present
article. This is preceded with a rather detailed statement of
problem and some comments on the solution method are given.
Analytic formulae for the inuence functions are mostly omitted
as they are the same as used by the deep-uid code and are
described in full by Sutulo and Guedes Soares (2004).

1099

everywhere on the domains boundary qG which is

@G S SF [ SC [ SR [ SL [ SB :

In the general case, the motion of a slightly deformable contour

is described by the time-dependent velocity distribution on the
contours boundary V(P, t), where t is time and P(x, y)ASC a point
on the contour. The motions of the contour are exciting the uid
whose motions potential is F(M, t) where M(x, y)AG. The
potential must satisfy the following relations constituting an
initial- and boundary-value problem:

 the Laplace equation

DF 0 in G;

 the free-surface boundary condition

@2 F
@F
g
@t
@y

at

y 0;

where g is the acceleration of gravity;

 the boundary condition on the contour

2. Formulation of problem and boundary integral equation
2.1. Problem statement

@F
P VP  nP
@n

at

P 2 SC ;

 the bottom boundary condition

Considered is a two-dimensional problem of determining the

hydrodynamic characteristics of a smooth contour SC oscillating
near the free surface SF of an incompressible uid which is
constrained by the rigid bottom SB which, in general case, can be
of any shape (Fig. 1).
The amplitude of any form of oscillations is assumed to be
innitesimally small, so that the solution uid domain G could be
considered steady that is having xed boundaries what is typical
for linear formulations. The contour can intersect the free surface
or be completely submerged beneath it (as some bulb sections),
but the rst case is of greater interest and it will be further
considered as the main one. Finally, considered are two articial
boundaries formed by half-innite vertical straight lines SL and SR
to make the uid domain technically nite in the horizontal
direction. The origin of the principal co-ordinate system Oxy
lies on the free surface and, as a rule, inside the contour. The
x-axis is directed to the right and the y-axisdownwards. The
unity normal n nxex+nyey is supposed to be dened almost

@F
P 0
@n

at

P 2 SB ;

 the initial conditions

FM; 0 F0 M;

@F
M; 0 C0 M;
@t

M 2 G;

where the functions in the right-hand sides describe initial

distributions of the potential and of its time derivative.
In the following, it is assumed that the contour is oscillating
harmonically with the frequency o and this motion started a long
time ago, so that the initial conditions inuence vanishes. The
excitation velocity distribution along the contour can then be
represented as
VP; t V Peiot ;

Fig. 1. Global frame of reference and domain boundaries.

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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

where the real part only is supposed to be retained in the righthand side and V is the complex shape function that can be
represented as a superposition of certain simple modal shapes.
Exclusively rigid contours will be further considered, for which
three modal shapes (heave, sway and roll) are sufcient to
describe any motion. In this particular case,


V P

V0

X  rOP ;

where VO* u*ex+v*ey and X* p*ez are complex amplitudes of

the linear and angular velocities, respectively, and rOP xex+yey is
the radius vector from the origin to the point P.
The velocity potential is then described with the help
of time-independent complex amplitude F*(M), so that
F(M, t) F*(M)eiot. The complex potential F*(M) also satises
the Laplace equation in G and the boundary condition on the
bottom remains the same as dened by Eq. (5). The boundary
condition on the free surface takes the form
@F
k0 F 0;
@y

where k0 o2/g.
The initial conditions are absent in the time-independent
problem, but the radiation conditions are required to
guarantee the solutions uniqueness. These are dened as,
(Yeung, 1973)
@F
xR;L ; y ikR;L F xR;L ; y;
@n

at

y 2 0; hR;L ;

10

where xR and xL are the abscissae of the vertical boundaries SR and

SL, respectively, hR and hL the water depth values at those
boundaries, and kR,L the wave numbers of the outcoming waves
dened by the equation kR,L tanh kR,LhR,L k0
The complex amplitude of the potential is usually decomposed
as F* u*j2+v*j3+p*j4, where j2, j3, j4 are the radiation
potentials which satisfy all the boundary conditions formulated
above for the complex potential amplitude and the following
conditions on the contour:
@j2
f2 nx ;
@n

@j3
f3 ny ;
@n

@ j4
f4 xny  ynx :
@n

As Dj0 and D log|x| 2pd(x), where d(x) is the Dirac

function, one can obtain for the point PAG

npjP

Z 
S

pjP

jQ KP; Q dSQ

As all the following considerations are valid for all the

radiation functions, the indices i will be dropped. It will be also
assumed that the point P(x, y) is the observation point in G G[S,
while Q(x, Z) is the current (integration) point in the same
domain. The distance between these two points is r jxP  xQ j
q
x  x2 y  Z2 : Applying the second Greens formula, (Frank
and Mises, 1961), to a radiation function j which is supposed to
be harmonic in G and to the fundamental solution of the twodimensional Laplace equation log r yields:

14

SC

where the kernel K is

8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<

@ log r
@nQ
@ log r
k0 log r
KP; Q
@nQ
>
>
>
>
>
@ log r
>
>
>
:  @n  ikR;L log r
Q

if

Q 2 SC [ SB ;

if

Q 2 SF ;

if

Q 2 SR;L :

15

2.3. Discretisation of the boundary-value problem

The discretisation procedure was described in detail in Sutulo
and Guedes Soares (2004) for the case of the innite-depth uid.
As the procedure remains practically the same in the nite-depth
case, it will be just outlined here.
First, the whole boundary S is subdivided into a reasonably large
number of segments: S [iSi, where every two segments have not
more than one common boundary point. Then, each curvilinear
segment Si is approximated with the rectilinear segment Si having
the same end points and the radiation function j is approximated
over each Si with the constant value ji. After this step, the boundary
equation does no longer contain any integrals:

pjP

N1
X

Kj Pjj

NX
C 1

Fj Pjj ;

P 2 S;

16

j0

where N is the overall number of segments, NC is the number of

segments on the contour, S [iSi, and
Kj P

KP; Q dSQ ;
Sj

12

Fj P

f Q log r dSQ :

17

Sj

To nalize the discretisation, this equation must also be

satised on a nite discrete set which would result in linear
algebraic equations for the radiation function values ji. This can
be performed at least in two ways: either the equation is satised
at the center Pi of each rectilinear segment (simple collocation) or
it is satised in the integral sense over each rectilinear segment Si
(integral collocation). The latter method was proposed by Sutulo
and Guedes Soares (2004) and it results in better accuracy at a
given number of panels at the expense of a somewhat more
complicated algebra. The nal algebraic equations look indentically in both the cases:
N1
X
j0

f Q log r dSQ ;

pS i ji

Z 
@j
@ log r
log r  j
dS:
@n
S @n

11

2.2. Boundary integral equation

j D log r  Dj log rdG

13

where n 2 if PAG, and n 1 if PAS and the surface S is smooth

(more precisely: it must be a Lyapunov contour) in the neighbourhood
of P. Then, assuming PAS, decomposing the integrals in Eq. (13),
according to Eq. (1) and applying the boundary conditions
formulated above obtained is the following boundary integral
equation with respect to the distribution j(P):

j0

The formulated problem for each of the radiation functions is a

mixed boundary-value problem for the elliptic equation. This
problem is solved here by means of a boundary integral equation
as proposed by Jaswon (1963) and Yeung (1973).


@j
@ log r
log r  j
dS;
@n
@n

Kij jj Fi 

NX
C 1

Fij ;

i 0; . . . ; N  1;

18

j0

where the inuence functions in the case of the simple collocation

are just Kij Kj(Pi) and the excitation functions Fij Fj(Pi) while

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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

4. Verication of the method and numerical examples

for the integral collocation

Kij

Z
Si

Kj P dSP;

Fij

Z
Si

Fj P dSP:

19

Analytic expressions for all inuence and excitation functions

were obtained by Yeung (1973) for the simple collocation case and
by Sutulo and Guedes Soares (2004) for the integral collocation.
They are rather cumbersome and are not reproduced here, except
for one component which was corrected as it sometimes failed in
the nite-depth case. This component is described in Appendix.
The algebraic set (18) can be typically of order 80200.
Unfortunately, this set is not diagonal dominant and the iterative
GaussSeidel method is not applicable. The GaussJordan and LUdecomposition methods both work reliably and are of equal value
from the viewpoint of speed.

3. Added masses and damping coefcients

After the potential distribution on the contour and the
boundaries are dened, the potential can be calculated at every
point inside the uid domain. Then, the velocity eld can be
restored by means of the numerical differentiation as well as the
pressure distribution, etc. However, when the mentioned quantities are required, it is more convenient to use another method
for solving the boundary-value problem which would produce the
velocity eld directly. At the same time, many manoeuvring and
seakeeping problems can be solved when used is only the
potential distribution j(P) on the contour and the complex added
mass coefcients m*kl dened as
Z

mkl r

SC

jl fk dS;

20

where r is the uid density, jl, l 2, 3, 4 the radiation functions

corresponding to the sway, heave and roll motions, respectively,
and the functions fk, k 2, 3, 4 dened by Eq. (11). Traditionally,
the complex added masses are represented as

mkl mkl 

nkl ;

21

where mkl are the usual real added masses and nkl the damping
coefcients. These two real quantities are normally displayed for
evaluation and comparisons.
In the discretized form, the complex added masses are
computed as


mkl r

NX
C 1

1101

jli fki S i :

22

4.1. Peculiarities of the boundarys discretisation

Although the method is almost the same for the innite-depth
and nite-depth cases, the repartition of panels over the boundary
has some specics. First, in the deep uid (Sutulo and Guedes
Soares, 2004) each of the far-eld vertical boundaries contains,
but a single semi-innite panel with the exponential potential
distribution. This reduces greatly the total number of panels,
although it requires the introduction and evaluation of additional
inuence functions, which are more complex than the functions
originating from Eqs. (15) to (19). If the number of panels on the
contour is pre-determined by the available hull shape database,
which is a typical situation, the only remaining repartition
uncertainty for the deep uid is related to the representation of
each part of the free surface. It was found that to achieve good
accuracy, each half of the free surface must cover at least two
lengths of the radiating waves and at least 23 segments are
required for each wavelength l. The latter depends on the
oscillations frequency, but in the nite-depth case it also depends
on the water depth. In any case, the actual repartition must be
dynamic with respect to the frequency. As at low frequencies, the
required free-surface panel length can become too large as
compared to the contour panel length, a transition interval was
organized in the vicinity of the contours corner. Within this
interval, the segment length was varying linearly from the
minimum contour panel length to the panel length requested by
the oscillation frequency.
In the nite-depth case, the paneling problem is treated
somewhat differently: the far-eld sidewalls are to be discretized
more or less in the same way as the free surface and the bottom of
the domain are forming a closed box. As larger absolute values of
the potentials gradient are expected to happen near the box
corners, the panels lengths must be reduced near the angular
points. The so-called cosine distribution is typically used in these
cases. While in the deep uid it was applied to rectangular
contours, in the nite depth it becomes also convenient for the
sidewalls, bottom and the free surface. The vertices should be
condensed near the corners, but also on the bottom near the
contour when the clearance is small. Usually, there is no sense to
consider gaps which are smaller than the corresponding panel
length. Hence, when possible, the repartition on the contour
should depend on the relative depth and when the contour
vertices are xed, restrictions on the minimum water depth must
be imposed.

4.2. Added masses and damping coefcients for semi-circle over at

bottom

i0

Numerical results in the present paper are represented in the

non-dimensional form. The non-dimensional frequency was
o0 o2Lref/g, where the reference length Lref is taken as
maximum of the draught T and waterline half-breadth B/2 for
each contour. The dimensionless added masses are dened
as follows:

m0 22 m22 =rpT 2 ;
L3ref ;

m 34 m34 =rp
0

m0 23 m23 =rpL2ref ;

m0 24 m24 =rpL3ref ;

L4ref ;

m0 33 4m33 =rpB2 :

m 44 m44 =rp
0

23
The damping coefcients are additionally divided by the
frequency.

The semi-circle is a traditional benchmark shape. Due to

central symmetry, all coupled coefcients are zero in the case of
unlimited at bottom. Calculations were carried out for 50 panels
on the circle and around 150 panels on the remaining boundary
and results were compared with those obtained by Yeung (1973)
for H/T 5, 15 and by Kim (as presented by Yeung) for H/T 4, 10.
It must be noted that the relative depth 15 and even 10 practically
corresponds to the deep uid.
The agreement with Yeungs data (Fig. 2) may be considered as
good, although the present data are likely somewhat more
accurate; as they were obtained with 50 panels against only 18
panels were used by Yeung. Kims data show disagreement for the
added masses at lower frequencies. This, however, does not show
any deciency of the present method as Kims data obviously do
not meet the KramersKronig relations (Schmiechen, 1999)

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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

1.4

2
22, present method

0.8

H/T=5

0.6

H/T=5

1
0.8

0.2
0

0.5

1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

1.4

1.2

2.5

33, present method

1.8

22, present method

33, present method

22, Yeung

1.6

33, Yeung

22, Yeung

1.4

33, Yeung

33, 33

1.2

0.8

H/T=15

0.6

H/T=15

1
0.8

0.4

0.6
0.4

0.2

0.2
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Dimensionless Frequency
2

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

1.8

33, present method

1.6

33, Yeung

1.4

33, Yeung

1.2

0.8

0.8
0.6
0.4

0.2

0.2

0
2

2.5

Dimensionless Frequency

H/T=10

0.4

1.5

33, Kim

1.2

0.6

33, Kim

1.4

0.5

33, present method

1.6

H/T=4

33, present method

1.8

33, present method

33, 33

33, 33

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2
22, present method

22, 22

1.2

0.4

0.2

33, Yeung

0.6

0.4

33, Yeung

1.4
33, 33

22, 22

22, Yeung

33, present method

1.6

22, Yeung

33, present method

1.8

22, present method

1.2

0.5

1.5

2.5

Dimensionless Frequency

Fig. 2. Added mass and damping coefcients for a semi-circle in sway and heave.

linking values of the added mass and the damping coefcient

which are automatically satised in the proposed method.
4.3. Added masses and damping coefcients for ship sections over
at bottom
The developed code was rst applied to the at-bottom case.
The three characteristic sections of the container ship S175 (ITTC,

Fig. 3. Panels distribution for section 2 at H/T 1.3: leftgeneral view (vertically
stretched); centercentral part; and rightarticial vertical wall.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

Fig. 4. Panels distribution for sections 10 (left) and 22 (right) at H/T 1.3: central
part.

1103

1983) i.e. the bulbous bow section #02, the midship section #10
and the stern section #22 were used for test computations. The
number of panels on the contour was relatively small, thus
corresponding to the common practice of seakeeping calculations.
Some examples of the distribution of panels representing also the
contours shapes are shown on Figs. 3 and 4, and the results for
the hydrodynamic coefcientson Figs. 58.
As the case is symmetric, all the coefcients with different
indices, except for 2 and 4, are zero. The results are compared with
0

1
H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

22

0.6

Section 02

-0.2
H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

24

0.8

0.4

-0.4

Section 02

0.2
0

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

-0.6

2.5

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

0.1
H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

22

0.6

0.08
0.06

Section 10

24

0.8

0.4

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

0.04
Section 10

0.2
0

0.02

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

-0.05

Section 22

22

0.6

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

-0.1
-0.15

24

0.8

0.4

-0.2
Section 22

0.2
0

2.5

-0.25

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

-0.3

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

Fig. 5. Sway and swayroll added mass coefcients: symbolsproposed method and linesHmassef.

2.5

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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

0.2

1
H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

0.8
0.6

33

44

0.15

0.1

0.4
Section 02
Section 02

0.05

0.2

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

0.07

1.6

0.04

Section 10

0.03

1.4

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

Section 10

1.2

33

44

2.5

1.8

0.05

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

0.8
0.6
0.4

0.02

0.2
0

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

0.12

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

0.11
0.1

Section 22

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

0.8
Section 22

0.6

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

33

0.09

44

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

0.06

0.01

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

0.08

0.4

0.07
0.06

0.2

0.05
0.04

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

Fig. 6. Roll and heave added mass coefcients: symbolsproposed method and linesHmassef.

those obtained with the code Hmassef developed by Soding

as
extension and improvement of his own code Hmasse described by

Bertram (2000), see also (Soding,

2005). That code accounts for
the seabed by means of mirror reection which means that it
can only be used with the at bottom. Although, the two codes
were developed absolutely independently and are very different,
the agreement is qualitatively good in all the cases. As to the

quantitative match, it is always acceptable, i.e. the observed

differences are not essential for applications, and often good and
even excellent. Larger differences are observed at smaller water
depths, but these differences remain insignicant from the
viewpoint of practical applications.
In some cases, mainly at smaller water depths, the proposed
code shows somewhat wavy character of the curves. This is an

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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

1105

1
H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

22

0.6

Section 02

-0.1

24

Section 02

0.8

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

-0.2

0.4
-0.3

0.2

0.5

1.5

-0.4

2.5

Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

2.5

Dimensionless Frequency

0.16

1.8

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

1.4

Section 10

1.2
1
0.8

0.12

24

1.6

22

0.5

0.6

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

Section 10

0.08

0.04

0.4
0.2
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

2.5

0
H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

0.4
0.3

Section 22

-0.04

24

0.5

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

-0.08

0.2
-0.12
0.1
0

Dimensionless Frequency

0.6

22

0.5

Section 22

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

-0.16

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

Fig. 7. Sway and swayroll damping coefcients: symbolsproposed method and linesHmassef.

artifact stemming from satisfying the free-surface boundary

condition on the nite boundary and known also for the innite
depth, where it is, however, less pronounced (Sutulo and Guedes
Soares, 2004). This effect could be reduced by double computation
with the far-eld boundary shifted by half-wavelength as done in
the code Hmassef, but this was not done here, as it would also

require the double computation time and the obtained improvement of accuracy is of no practical value.
All observed differences are due to uncertainties contained
in both methods which are related to different number of
panels, especially on the free surface and to the distance at
which the radiation condition is imposed. However, somewhat

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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

1.4

0.2

0.1

Section 02

1
0.8
33

44

0.15

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

1.2

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

Section 02

0.6
0.4

0.05

0.2
0

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

2.4

0.02
H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

Section 10

0.01

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

2
1.6
33

0.015

44

Section 10

1.2
0.8

0.005
0.4
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

2.5

Dimensionless Frequency

0.05

Section 22

44

0.03

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

1.6
Section 22

1.2
33

0.04

0.02

0.8

0.01

0.4

0.5

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

H/T=10.0
H/T=15.0
H/T=1.1
H/T=1.3
H/T=1.5
H/T=1.7
H/T=2.0
H/T=3.0
H/T=4.0
H/T=5.0

0.5
1
1.5
2
Dimensionless Frequency

2.5

Fig. 8. Roll and heave damping coefcients: symbolsproposed method and linesHmassef.

irregular dependence of the agreement on the case (some

coefcients are better for one section, other coefcients are better
for another; sometimes agreement is better for low frequencies,
sometimesat high frequencies; even when the agreement for
the added mass is not so good, it is much better for the
corresponding damping coefcient) indicates that no one of the
codes contains systematic errors and all results are viable.

It can be noticed that depending on the sections shape and

relative water depth, the dependency of the added masses and
damping coefcients on the frequency can be very different and
sometimes even unexpected. This proves that using deep-water
data for seakeeping calculations in shallow water can lead to
signicant errors of undetermined sign. The theoretical symmetry
relation m24m42 is only met approximately, although the

ARTICLE IN PRESS
S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

differences are small and even hardly perceptible at larger depths

of uid.
4.4. Ship sections over stepped bottom
The next explored case was that of a ship section over the
stepped bottom. This case is modeling the situation typical for
harbour approach channels. In this case, the results will depend,
besides the frequency, on three parameters: (1) depth of the
shallower part, (2) depth of the deeper part, and (3) lateral
displacement of the section with respect to the step. As the
symmetry with respect to the centerplane does not exist anymore,
more coupling effects will be observed. Namely, the couplings
between the heave and sway (indices 23) and between heave and
roll (34) will take place.

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
-100

-50

50

Fig. 9. General view of the computational domain for a left-stepped bottom.

Position 1

Position 3

1107

The test computations were carried out for the maximumcontrast cases i.e. when the relative depth of the shallower part
was 1.1 and for the deeper part15.0, which is practically
equivalent to the unlimited depth. Of course, such a depth
contrast is not likely in the real situations but all step effects
are supposed to be more pronounced in the studied case.
The calculations were performed for the same three sections,
but only results for section 10 are presented here in full. A typical
general distribution of panels is shown on Fig. 9 for the
shallow part located at the left, but most calculations were
carried out for its inversed location and for ve different positions
of the section with respect to the step shown on Fig. 10. Results
of these calculations for the section 10 are presented on Figs. 11
and 12.
The results differ from those obtained with the at bottom not
only quantitatively, but also qualitatively: most dependencies of
the added mass and damping coefcients look highly oscillatory
which is no longer an artifact, but indicates to the presence of
some interference. Its details are still not clear, but apparently this
is due to the fact that the same oscillation frequency o results in
at least two different wavelengths 2p/kR and 2p/kL, dened by two
present depths according to Eq. (10). Although the at-bottom
results for the relative depths 1.1. and 15 tend to serve as
envelopes for the stepped-bottom data, they hardly can be used as
a viable approximation which conrms the necessity to perform
estimations for any actual bottom shape.
The asymmetric coupling characterized by coefcients with
indices 23 and 34 is signicant enough in most cases, but usually
tends to diminish at higher frequencies. This, and the oscillatory
behaviour of the corresponding dependencies point out that
the asymmetry is mainly governed by the wave effects and the
near-eld asymmetry stemming from the presence of the step is
less important.
For all the coefcients, the character of the dependencies on
the frequency can vary with the contours shape. Sometimes, the
behaviour can be similar for different shapes but sometimes not.
To illustrate this second possibility, plots for the heave added

Position 2

Position 4

Fig. 10. Ship section 10 over a right step.

Position 5

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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

1.2

0.6
0.4

0.4
0.2
0

0.2
0

Position1
Position2
Position3
Position4
Position5

0.6

23

0.8
22

0.8

Position1
Position2
Position3
Position4
Position5

-0.2

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

-0.4

1.5

0.1

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

2.8

0.08

Position1
Position2
Position3
Position4
Position5

2.4

Position1
Position2
Position3
Position4
Position5

24

33

0.06
0.04

1.6
1.2
0.8

0.02
0

0.4

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

0.08

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

0.1
Position1
Position2
Position3
Position4
Position5

0.04

Position1
Position2
Position3
Position4
Position5

0.08
0.06
44

34

0
-0.04

0.04

-0.08

0.02

-0.12

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

Fig. 11. Added mass coefcients for section 10: stepped bottom.

mass of the sections 2 and 22 are shown on Fig. 13. Comparison

with similar data for the section 10 on Fig. 11 indicates an unusual
behavior in the latter case when the positions inuence is much
greater than that observed for sections 02 and 22, especially at
higher frequencies. Likely, this happens due to proximity of two
at bottoms which does not happen in the case of the bow and
stern ship sections.

5. Conclusion
A exible implementation of the boundary integral equation
method for two-dimensional contours intersecting the free surface of the nite-depth uid has been developed. The salient
feature of the method is that the non-penetration boundary
condition can be satised in the integral sense over each of the

ARTICLE IN PRESS
S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

1.8

0.8

1.6

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5

1.4

0.4
0
23

22

1.2
1

-0.4

0.8
0.6

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5

-0.8

0.4
0.2

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

-1.2

1.5

0.14

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

0.12

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5

0.1

1.6

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5

1.2

0.08

33

24

1109

0.06

0.8

0.04
0.4

0.02
0

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

0.02

0.04
0.02

0.015

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5

0.01

-0.02

44

34

-0.04

0.005

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5

-0.06
-0.08
-0.1

1.5

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

-0.005

0.5
1
Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

Fig. 12. Damping coefcients for section 10: stepped bottom.

approximating at panels. The calculation domain is naturally

limited by the wetted part of the contour, free surface, bottom
(seabed) and is also articially limited with two far-placed vertical
boundaries on which the radiation condition is fullled. The shape
of the bottom can be arbitrary.
The method was successfully veried for at bottom, in which
case some published results and an independent code were available.
Then, computations for the stepped bottom with an extremely high

depth contrast were carried out. The obtained results showed that the
presence of a step heavily affects the hydrodynamic characteristics of
the contour. The dependency on the oscillation frequency becomes
highly oscillatory and cannot be approximated with any at-bottom
results. The bottom asymmetry results in a signicant hydrodynamic
asymmetry even on geometrically symmetric contours and certain
coupling effects, which are usually absent or negligible, like swayheave and heave-roll, can become important.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
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S. Sutulo et al. / Ocean Engineering 36 (2009) 10981111

1.6

1.4

1.4
1.2

0.8

0.6

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.5

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5

0.8

33

33

1.2

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5

1.5

-0.2

0.5

Dimensionless Frequency

1.5

Dimensionless Frequency

Fig. 13. Sway added mass coefcients for sections 2 (left) and 22 (right) over stepped bottom.

Acknowledgments

and where the rst two auxiliary functions are computed as

The study was carried out within the framework of the

research Project PTDC/ECM/65806/2006 Dynamics and Hydrodynamics of Ships in Approaching Fairways nanced by Fundac- a~ o para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, The rst author
was supported by the FCT Grant SFRH/BPD/26722/2006. The

authors appreciate Mr. Antonio

Pac- os considerable aid at editing
numerous plots.

H00 x; y logjbij jxy2 b2ij ;

According to Sutulo and Guedes Soares (2004)

Fij4 12 nyj xOj  nxj yOj I0  12I1 ;

A1

where nxj, nyj are projections of the unity normal on the jth
element and xOj ; yOj are co-ordinates of the same element; I0 and
I1 are the auxiliary functions dened as

12cij bij

S i =2
S i =2

Z
dx

S j =2

atan 2xbij ; aij  y cij x


aij  y cij x
1
cij bij x x2 atan
bij
2

( atan 2x; y
atan 2xx; y

p sign x atan

( atan x
y

p
2

dx;

A2

where aij, bij, cij and sij are auxiliary geometric parameters dened
in Sutulo and Guedes Soares (2004).
The integrals I0 and I1 were evaluated in Sutulo and Guedes
Soares (2004) analytically for the general case of arbitrary mutual
orientation of the ith and jth elements and also for the special
cases of parallel and co-planar elements. All formulae are correct
except for the case of I1 calculated for parallel elements when
I1 H0 S i =2; S j =2  H0 S i =2; S j =2  H0 S i =2;  S j =2
H0 S i =2;  S j =2;

A3

where
H0 x; y H00 x; y H10 x; y H20 x; y H30 x; y;

A5

A4

A6

and

S j =2

( )
1

aij  y cij x
bij

logb2ij aij  y cij x2 ;

atan 2x; y

logbij

 sij x2 aij cij x  x2 

0
H10
x; y x atan

aij  y2  b2ij  atan 2xbij ; aij  y cij x


bij aij  y logb2ij aij  y cij x2 

Corrected explicit formulae for the excitation function Fij(4)

I 0 

cij aij  y

0
H11
x; y

Appendix

0
x; y;
2cij bij H11

0
H10 x; y 2aij bij H10
x; y

sign x

x
y

at

ya0

at

y0

at

yZ0

at

yo0 ;

A7

The corresponding formulae in Sutulo and Guedes Soares

(2004) break on elements whose normals are directed to each
other. This situation did not happen in deep-water calculations.
All the remaining auxiliary functions from Eq. (A4) are correctly
given in Sutulo and Guedes Soares (2004). Their structure and
degree of complexity are similar to those of the formulae
presented here.
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