The resistance reduction by an air lubrication effect of a large air cavity covering the hull bottom surface and the similarity relations involved have been investigated with a series of towing tank tests of three geometrically similar models. The test results of geometrically similar models have indicated that a large air cavity was formed beneath the bottom having a backward-facing step by artificially supplying air is effective for resistance reduction. The areas of air cavity and the required flow rates of air are directly related to the effective wetted surface area. The traditional extrapolation methods seem to be applicable to the estimation of the resistance in the tested range if corrections are made to account the changes in the frictional resistance caused by the changes in the effective wetted surface area. To investigate the effectiveness of air lubrication in improving the resistance performance of a practical ship, a small test boat having a backward-facing step under its bottom has been manufactured and speed trials in a river have been performed. Air has been supplied artificially into the downstream region of the bottom step to form a large air cavity covering the bottom surface. The results have confirmed the practical applicability of air lubrication for the resistance reduction of a small high-speed boat.

The radiation problem for oscillating bodies on the free surface has been formulated by the over-determined Green integral equation, where the boundary condition on the free surface is satisfied by adopting the Kelvin-type Green function and the irregular frequencies are removed by placing additional control points on the free surface surrounded by the body. The B-Spline based higher order panel method is then applied to solve the problem numerically. Because both the body geometry and the potential on the body surface are represented by the B-Splines, that is in polynomials of space parameters, the unknown potential can be determined accurately to the order desired above the constant value. In addition, the potential expressed in B-Spline can be differentiated analytically to get the velocity on the surface without introducing any numerical error. Sample computations are performed for a semispherical body and a rectangular box floating on the free surface for six-degrees of freedom motions. The added mass and damping coefficients are compared with those by the already-validated constant panel method of the same formulation showing strikingly good agreements.

Current loads acting on offshore vessels are important for predicting the hydrodynamic and structural responses of the vessels. It is also true for analyzing the behavior of moored systems under the action of ocean current. Unfortunately there are few standardized current load coefficients for offshore vessels and it is extremely difficult to be applied to arbitrary hull shapes, if any. Therefore current load coefficients for three hull shapes are calculated in this study using a CFD code, which is well known in the shipbuilding industry. In order to validate the present approach, a typical VLCC is taken as numerical example and resulting current coefficients are compared with experiment together with the OCIMF data. The comparison shows a good agreement in the qualitative sense. Two additional models considered herein are a shuttle tanker and a FPSO under deepwater condition $(WD/T{\geq}6)$. The present numerical approach may be utilized for practical design of offshore vessels.

The objective of this paper is to summarize current ultra-deepwater (i.e., up to 3,500 meters water depth) pipeline mechanical design methodologies as part of the limit state design. The standard mechanical design for ultra-deepwater pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is based on API RP 1111. API code also has been used for deepwater projects in west Africa. DNV code OS-F101 was mostly used for deepwater projects in offshore Brazil and Europe. Some pipeline designs in the GOM have started to incorporate parts of the DNV design methodology. A discussion of failure under collapse only and combined loading (i.e. pressure + bending) is presented. The best design criteria are obtained from physical full-scale collapse testing. The comparison of the physical test data and collapse calculations using the DNV and API codes will be presented. It was found that the conservatism still exists in the collapse prediction for ultra-deepwater pipeline using modem design codes such as DNV OS-F101 and API RP 1111.