Evaluation of planing craft maneuverability using numerical modeling

Ship maneuvering in calm water and waves are important topics to avoid collisions and broaching, therefore reliable ship maneuvering simulations are required for incident analysis and prevention. The maneuverability of planing crafts has been the subject of many research projects during the last few decades. To assess the maneuverability of planing crafts at the early design stage, reliable simulation models are required. Traditionally, these tools have used empiric descriptions of the forces and moments on the planing craft’s hull. However, nowadays new numerical modeling techniques are available enabling more reliable predictions of the maneuvering behaviour of planing crafts. Ship maneuvering performance evaluation is essential in primary design stages. Ship maneuvering calculations, horizontal plane motion control and development of maneuvering simulators need a mathematical description of ship maneuvering. In the recent years, different mathematical models are suggested for maneuvering of displacement vessels that are capable of estimation of vessel maneuvers with acceptable precision. But simulation of planing craft maneuverability through mathematical model is not common yet and is the subject of future research. In this paper different maneuvers are executed through the mathematical model. Then the mathematical model is solved and different maneuvers are simulated. Simulations are validated by model tests. Finally the influence of rudder angle on maneuverability of planing ship is studied. Different between simulation results and experimental are lower than ten percentages. At the end of this paper the effect of the rudder dimension on the tactical diameter of planing ship in turning maneuvering is evaluated.