Comparison of Idealized 1D and Forecast 2D Wave Spectra in Ship Response Predictions

• Main Author: Björnsson, Lars
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: KTH, Marina system 2013
• Subjects: Vehicle Engineering; Farkostteknik; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-143506

Commonly, when calculating ship responses one uses idealized wave spectra to represent the sea. In the idealized model, the sea is frequently assumed to consist of swell and windwaves, which are usually represented by idealized 1D wave spectra, and the directionality of wind-waves is accounted for by multiplication with a standard spreading function. In operational response predictions these idealized spectra are typically generated by extracted parameters from real directional 2D wave spectra obtained from a weather forecast, i.e. spectra that reflects the sea state conditions for the particular place and time. It is generally not known in a statistical sense how large the errors become when idealized wave spectra are used to represent 2D wave spectra, especially not regarding the directionality. The objective with the study is hence to assess the errors that arise when adopting this simplification. The analysis compares three ship types that cover different combinations of hull form, load condition and operational conditions: a 153m RORO ship, a 219 m PCTC and a 240m bulk carrier. Chosen response parameters are roll motion, vertical acceleration and wave added resistance, which were calculated in 12240 sea states, for 10 speeds and 36 courses for each ship. The sea states are forecast 2D spectra from the North Atlantic 25th of September 2012. Transfer functions were generated from the hull geometry and realistic load conditions at speeds 2-20 knots. For each sea state-speed-course combination, responses were calculated for 2D wave spectra and corresponding generalized spectra. The error is taken as the difference in response between results obtained with 2D and idealized spectra, using 2D-results as reference. Several statistical measures were used to represent the errors for one sea state with only one number, and among them the root-mean-square error (RMSE) and the worst possible error (WPE) are regarded most relevant. The results show that the relative error decreases with increasing share of wind waves and ...