Abstract
Among many factors to be considered for higher safety level requirements, the hull stability in intact and damaged conditions in seaways is of utmost importance. Since the assessment of a damaged ship is complicated due to the highly non-linear behavior, it is widely acknowledged that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are one of the most feasible approaches. Although many research activities are being reported on the damaged ship stability recently, most of them are not designed for validation of CFD studies. In this study, well-designed model tests were performed to build a CFD validation database, which is essential in developing better CFD methods for the damage stability assessment. The geometry of the damaged compartment and test conditions were determined based on preliminary CFD simulations. Free roll decay tests in calm water with both intact and damaged ships were performed and the roll motion characteristics were compared. The damaged ship showed a larger roll damping coefficient and more rapid decrease of roll amplitude than the intact ship. The primary reason of these efforts can be explained by the movement of the flooded water.