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SUPERYACHT#505
May2004
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Articleby
AngeloSinisi

MANEUVERABILITY
InpreviousarticlesIdiscussedthe
choiceofthehullonthebasisof
speedandseakeepingability,taking
intoconsiderationstabilityforsafety
yetneglectingmaneuverability.In
thisarticleIwilltrytoexplain,in
simplewords,shipmaneuverability.

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Themaneuveringcharacteristicsof
shipshavebeentheobjectof
extendedstudiesandexperiences
allovertheworld,mainlyforbig
ships,which,fortheirnature,
generallyhaveapoormaneuvering
abilityandamoreorless
emphasizeddirectionalinstability.
Thisnotonlyisharmfultothe
efficiencyoftheship,butitalso
affectsitssafetyqualities,whichare
importantespeciallywhenthehull
hasfullshapeaftandwhensailing
withfollowingsea.

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Shipmaneuverabilityisconsidered
tobethecapabilityofmaintaining
andchangingspeedanddirection
withsuitablemeans,dependingon
theneedsresultingfromthenatureoftheship.Ofcourse,theshiprespondsin
severalwaystoasteeringcommandandthisdependsonhergeometric,kinematic
anddynamiccharacteristics,onthetypeandsizeofthecontrolunits,onthereciprocal
interactionbetweencontrolelementsandship,andfinally,onallexternalforces
occurringatseathatdisturbthemotion.

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Examiningthestraightandevolutionarymotionoftheshiponthehorizontalplane,
onemustidentifythemostimportantaspectsbothoftheship'sreactionstocontrol
actionswhentheseareintendedtochangetheship'sdirection,aswellasofher
tendencytomaintainornottheastraightlinepath,followingactionscausedby
externalforces.
Thesereactions,identifiedasphysicallyrepresentativeofthevariousaspectsof
directionsteeringarecalledsteering"qualities"andallowtoevaluate,isolatedlyor
comparatively,theeffectivepossibilitiesandcapabilitiesoftheshipandofher
steeringunits,whilemaintainingorchangingagivendirection.

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Seatrials,brandnewandusedboats

Tryingtoexaminethisveryimportantchapterofshipdynamicsinthesimplestway
possibledoesnotseemuseless.Shipdynamicstogetherwithseakeepingarevery
oftenignoredoratleastunsuitablyinterpretedbywayofempiricalrelationships,
which,isobvious,scarcelyrepresentthecompletenessoftheproblem.Thedesignof
steeringunitsisjustapartofthestudyofmaneuverabilityanditwouldbeirrationalto
carryitoutonitsown,separatelyfromthehullonwhichtheyhavetobeinstalled.

AbbatePrimatist

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Thesteeringqualitiesaredefinedasfollows:DIRECTIONALSTABILITY,
MANEUVERABILITYandSTEADYTURNCAPABILITY.

Pershing

Quicksilver

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DIRECTIONALSTABILITYisassociatedwiththebasicconceptofstableequilibrium
ofaphysicalphenomenon,whentheinitialconditionsofthephenomenon,changed

SessaMarine

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Othershipyards

withtheonsetofanaccidentalcause,arereestablishedwhentheperturbingcause
disappears.
MANEUVERABILITYisthemoreorlessaccentuatedcapacitythatashiphasof
respondingtothesteeringcontrols,whichmaytendtomakeherchangedirection
fromthestraightlinepathmotionortoreturntotheoriginalheading,ifsome
disturbancemayhavemodifiedit.
STEADYTURNCAPABILITYisthecapabilityofashipofinvertingdirection,underthe
actionofsteeringcontrolsinrestrictedstretchesofwaters.
Onecanalsoaddtosuchqualitiesthecapabilityofbeingabletochangethespeedof
themotioninagivenperiodoftime,thatisthecapabilityofacceleratingand
decelerating.Eventhoughsuchcapabilityispartofthemaneuverabilityinageneral
sense,itgreatlydependsonthepoweroftheengineandonthetypeofpropulsion.
Fig.1

Theconditionsofastraightlinepathofaship,oncetheperturbingcausesdisappear,
maybespontaneouslyreestablishedinthreedifferentways,asshownbythefigure
shownonFig.1,andtheseare:
CaseI:straightlinepathstabilitywhentheship,oncethedisturbancedisappears,
spontaneouslyfollowsthestraightlinepathwithadifferentheadingfromtheoriginal
one.
CaseIIandIII:directionalstabilitywhentheship,oncethedisturbancedisappears,
afteraphaseduringwhichmotionisinseveraldirections,followstheoriginal
directionbutonadifferentpathascomparedwiththeoriginalone.
CaseIV:positionalmotionstabilitywhentheship,oncethedisturbancedisappears,
followsthesameoriginalpath.
Inthefourabovementionedcases,theactionscarriedoutbycontrolunitsarenot
considered,because,fromthehydrodynamicpointofview,theconceptofstraightline
pathisassociatedwiththespontaneouscapabilityoftheshipofreturningtotheinitial
conditions.Inpractice,oneshouldobservethatashipmayhave,atthemost,the
intrinsicqualityofstraightlinepath.

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Fig.2

Thestraightlinepathstabilitymaybeincreasedwithfixedsteeringmeans,suchas
deadwoods(Fig.2),thusobtaining,sometimes,shipsthataretoostable.Inthiscase
ruddermaneuverabilitymaybejeopardized.
Ingeneral,thestabilitycharacteristicsonthehorizontalplanewithfixedsteering
meansareindependentfromspeed,thatis,ifashiphasastraightlinepathstability
atlowspeed,thesameistrueforhigherspeedsandviceversa.
Ashipwithahighmomentofmassinertia(bigmassesdistributedatbowandstern)
shallnotsuddenlychangeitsheadingandshallnoteasilyreturntoit.Ashipwitha
lowmomentofmassinertiashallimmediatelychangeitsheading,neverthelessitwill
alsoreturntoitmoreeasily.Inthefirstcase,inordertochangeheadingmoreeasily,
arudderthatwithsmallrudderanglesgeneratesbigforcesshallbeinstalledonthe
otherhand,inthesecondcasearudderthatatthesamerudderangleswillgenerate
smallerforcesshallbeinstalled.
Veryoftendissymmetryofthepropellingsystemthrustsand/orresistanceto
progress,thelatterduetothedissymmetryoftheflowonthehull,allowthestraight
linepathtobemaintainedonlywithagivenrudderangle.
Theflowalongashipwithahullhavingsymmetricalsidesandwhichmoveswithout
rudders,incalmwater,issymmetrical.Theathwartshipforces,whichmaybe
producedbythemotionofthewateralongthehull,fortheshipsymmetry,are
reciprocallybalanced.Assoonastherudderistakentoarudderangle,aforceP
thatdoesnotlieonthesymmetryplaneoftheshipisgenerated.Generally,thisforce
generatesanathwartshipmotionoftheshipandrotationsaroundthreereciprocally
perpendicularaxes.
Onlyrotationaroundtheverticalaxisshallbemaintainedtheothertypesofrotation
aretobeconsideredsecondaryandundesirable.

Fig.3

Theforcesthatgeneratetheship'smotiononthehorizontalplanegeneratethree
differentphasesofthemotion.(Fig.3).
Thefirstphasestartswhentherudderisturnedadanangleandendsassoonasthe
shipstartsrotatingaroundtheverticalaxis.
Duringthesecondphase,theangularspeedofrotationincreases,whileinthethird
onetheangularspeedisconstantandtheshipdescribesthesocalled"steadyturn".
Assoonastherudderismovedatanangleandthefirstphasestarts,forcePis
generatedanditactsperpendicularlytotheruddersymmetryplane.

Fig.4

ThelongitudinalcomponentofforceP,generatedbytherudder,Psen,actsinthe
samedirectionastheship'sdragorresistanceand,therefore,itslowsdownits
speed.Theathwartshipcomponent,Pcos,givestheshipanathwartshipmotion
anditalsogeneratesacouplewhichmustovercomethemomentofinertiaofthe
ship'smass.Initially,forcePsenpredominatessothattheshipmakesleewayto
theleftifthetillerispushedtotheright,withoutanyconsiderablerotationaroundthe
verticalaxis(Fig.4).
Inthesecondphase,asaconsequenceoftheleeway,occurringinthefirstphase,
andofthebeginningofrotation,dragWtotheship'sprogress,originallyactingonthe
longitudinalplaneofsymmetry,graduallychangesintodragW'andactsatanangle
withthelongitudinalplaneofsymmetry,ontheleftsideoftherudderifthetilleris
pushedtotheright.ThelongitudinalcomponentW'cos,togetherwithforcePsen
,slowsdowntheship'smotion,andtheathwartshipcomponentW'senopposes
forcePcos,sothattheleewaytotheleft,occurringinthefirstphase,stops(Fig.4).
Nowtheshipfollowsaroundpath,whoseturningradiusdiminishesastheangular
velocityincreases.
BecauseforceW'actsonapointincludedbetweenthecenterofgravityGandthe
bow,theshipadvanceswiththebowontheinsideandthesternontheoutsideofthe
trajectoryofthecenterofgravity.
Inthefirsttwophasestheforcesandthemotionsvary,whileinthethirdphasethe
conditionsareconstant.Oncethetwoforces,occurringinthefirsttwophasesare
balanced,thethirdphasestarts.Bothpositiveandnegativeangularaccelerationsin
theoppositedirectiontothatoftangentspeedVtstop,whilethecentrifugalforceis
balancedbythehydrodynamicforcesthataregeneratedwithmotion.Theturning
radiusRbecomesconstantandthecenterofgravityoftheshiptracesasteadyturn.
Theship'sspeed,whichdiminishedinthefirsttwophases,nowremainsconstant.
Oneoftheundesirablesecondaryresultsofusingtherudderistheship'sheeling
aroundalongitudinalaxis.Thisisduetothefactthattheathwartshipforcesacton
differentverticalpositions.Moreover,theseforcesvaryastheshippassesthrough
phasesoneandtwo,sothattheheelingdepends,inallinstances,onthephasein
whichtheshipisinthatmoment.

Fig.5

Inthefirstphase,theathwartshipforcesinvolvedarethecomponentoftheforce
generatedbytherudder,Pcos,andthecomponentofdragW'sen.AsW'sen
issmallatthebeginningoftheturn,andthereforeofminorimportance,Pcos
provokestheheelingtotherightwhenthetillerispushedtotherightandviceversa.
Then,forceW'sengraduallyincreasesandtheheelingslowlydiminishes(Fig.5).
Fig.6

Assoonastheshipstartsturninginthesecondphase,thecentrifugalforce(D'/g)
(Vt/R)cos(=leewayangle)comesintoplay.Asaconsequence,theshiptends
toheeltotheleftifinthefirstphasethetillerispushedtotherightandviceversa(Fig.
6).Thegreatestangleofheelingisreachedimmediatelyaftertheheelingchanges
fromrighttoleftbecauseduetoitsmassinertia,theshipheelsbeyonditspositionof
staticbalance.Inthiscondition,ifthetillerwastakenbackatmidships,therudder
forcePcoswoulddisappearanditwouldnotcounteractforceW'sen,thus
increasingtheheelingtotheleft.
Thisistobeconsideredwithattention,becausethehelmsman,fearinganexcessive
heeling,couldsetthetillerbackatmidshipsorworse,pushthetillertotheopposite
sidethusworseningthesituationtheonlysafeactionwouldbe,onthecontrary,to
slowdowntheshipbystoppingthepropellingsystems.Itisclearthattheriskof
capsizinginsuchcircumstancesisgreateronshipsthathavesomeorallofthe
followingcharacteristics:ahighcenterofgravity,alittlemetacentricheight,ahigh
speedorasmallsteadyturningradius.
SteadyturningdiameterRisapproximately3to7timestheship'slength.Thisample
variationofdiameterRmaybeinfluencedbythehullshapeorbytheruddershape
andtype.

Fig.7

Above,wehaveseenthatinordertoincreasestraightlinepathstabilitythedeadwood
mustbethegreatestpossible,viceversaforsmallsteadyturningdiametersthe
deadwoodshouldberemoved.Thismeansthatstraightlinepathstabilityandasmall
steadyturndiameteraretwocharacteristicsthatcannotbeobtainedsimultaneously.
Therefore,speedreductionresultingduringasteadyturnisafunctionofthesizeof
thediameteroftheturnandofthetypeofhull,thatisofherblockcoefficientCb(Fig.
7).
Theotherteststhathighlightthesteadyturningqualitiesofavesselarethe"spiral"
and"zigzag"maneuvers.
Thespiralmaneuveristhemostpropertesttoidentifythedirectionalqualities,
becauseitalsoprovidesthequantityofthetypeofinstability,whenitexists.
Thezigzagmaneuverprovidestheindexesofthesteadyturningcapabilityandof
maneuverabilitywhenthemotionisnotuniform,thereforeitismorerealistic.
Itisimportanttonotethatthesuitablyanalyzeddatacollectedduringthevarioustests
supplythenecessaryelementsforproportioningtheservomechanismsofthe
automaticsteeringsystems.
Afterexplainingmaneuverability,withoutspecifyingthedetailsandwithoutdeveloping
mathematicalformulasrelativetothedifferentcasesandtests,Irememberedan
interviewmadebyajournalisttoanarchitect.Tothequestion"Isthestudyofthehull
important?"theanswerwas"No.Everythingisoptimizedbythecomputerprograms..."
Yet,Iaskmyselfhowcanacomputerprogramdecideon:adeadwood,asmallorbig
radiusstempost,aratherfullshapeaftcombinedwithhydrodynamicsternorvice
versa(thegeometricalshapeonthethreeplanesisverywellcarriedoutbythe
computer),abeamthatmaysatisfythestabilityrequirements(forcrewsafety),the
hydrodynamiccriteria,etc.?Letalonethestructure!
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