UNSTEADY CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFT GENERATED BY SMALL UNDERWATER CONTROL FIN

Abstract

Speed reduction or slamming must be restricted for a high-speed oceangoing vessel because of the requirement for punctuality and the high value of the cargo. Speed reduction and slamming are caused by large amplitude motions in waves. A promising ship form for such vessels is so-called “Resonance-Free SWATH (RFS)”, which has negative pitch and roll restoring moments due to the extraordinary small water plane area. As a consequence, the resonance peak is removed from the motion response. The attitude of the RFS with negative restoring moments is adjusted by four pairs of control fins attached to the fore and aft ends of the lower hulls. In previous studies, the steady value of the lift-curve slope is usually used in the motion equation of the frequency domain. However, when working in waves, the controlling fins are not working in a steady state and the lift coefficient is no longer a constant. In addition, there exists a phase lag between the change in the attack angle and the fin-generated lift. In the present study, theoretical predictions using a frequency-domain 3D-Rankine Panel Method, as well as experimental measurement, have been made to analyze the phenomena of the lift generation including the phase lag and the interference between fins, the lower hulls and the struts. The theoretical results agree well with the experimental results in spite of the potential theory being without viscosity. Next, the unsteady characteristics of fin-generated lift are expressed as the function of the encountering wave frequency. Then the effects of the fore fins, the lower hulls and struts on the lift curve-slope of the aft fins are discussed.