An Experimental Study on Hydrodynamic Forces of Korea Autonomous Surface Ship in Various Loading Conditions

Currently, shipping by sea is becoming common because of the low price and the safety of goods. The ship is designed as a larger vessel to meet the need of this development. In the design stage, the investigation of hydrodynamic forces acting on the ship hull is very important in predicting the ship's maneuverability. Given that the ship docks at various ports for loading or discharging goods, the ship usually operates in various loading conditions, depending on the site condition and other various factors. Hence, it is necessary to investigate the effect of the loading condition on the hydrodynamic forces acting on the ship, to most accurately determine the maneuverability of the ship. In this study, an experiment of Korea Autonomous Surface Ship (KASS) was conducted at the towing tank of Changwon National University to measure the hydrodynamic forces acting on the KASS. The loading condition considered in this experiment is determined based on the draft, which was decreased by 5% for each loading condition. The smallest draft is 85% of the design draft. The static test as Oblique Towing Test (OTT), Circular Motion Test (CMT), Circular Motion Test with Drift (CMTD) is performed in the various loading conditions. First, the hydrodynamic forces in the Oblique Towing test (OTT) are compared with the result of other institutes. Second, the hydrodynamic forces in various drift angle, yaw rate and loading conditions are measured. Finally, the influence of the loading conditions on the hydrodynamic coefficient is discussed.