Modeling nonlinear roll damping with a self-consistent, strongly nonlinear ship motion model

Appropriate modeling of roll damping is one of the key issues in accurately predicting ship roll motion. The difficulties in modeling roll damping arise from the nonlinear nature of the phenomena. In this study, we report a new effort in modeling the bilge keel roll damping effect based on the blocking mechanisms of an object in the potential flow. This effect can be implemented as a component of appropriate ship motion models. We used our digital, self-consistent, ship experimental laboratory (DiSSEL) ship motion model to test its effectiveness in predicting ship roll motion. Our numerical experiment demonstrated clearly that the implementation of this roll damping component improves significantly the accuracy of numerical model results (the results were compared with ship experiment data from the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Maneuvering and Seakeeping Facility).