Proceedings of the Twentieth (2010) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference

Beijing, China, June 2025, 2010

Copyright 2010 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE)
ISBN 978-1-880653-77-7 (Set); ISSN 1098-6189 (Set); www.isope.org

The Effect of the Side Hull Arrangement on the Maneuvering Characteristics of the Trimaran Ship
Ming-Chung Fang, Zen-Hwa Chang and Shih-An Yang
Department of Systems and Naval Mechatronic Engineering, National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, TAIWAN, China

ship which include the HPMM technique to measure the related

hydrodynamic coefficients for predicting the maneuvering performance
in calm water. Tristan et al.(2007) used the parameter analysis, the
engineering judgment and the genetic algorithm to make a series of
studies on the zig-zag simulation of a 127 m high-speed trimaran ship
ad his simulations agreed with the test results well. In Japan, Yasukawa
(2005) also made the study of the effect of different side hull
arrangements on the maneuvering characteristics of the trimaran ship
and he found that the forward arrangement cause smaller turning circle.
In the present study, the maneuvering characteristics of the trimaran
ship including the turning circle test and zig-zag test with respect to
different side-hull arrangements are studied. The experimental set-up of
the PMM technique for measuring the hydrodynamic coefficients of the
trimaran ship with different side hull arrangements is also established in
the NCKU towing tank.

ABSTRACT
In the paper the maneuvering characteristics of the trimaran ship
including the turning circle test and zig-zag test with respect to
different side-hull arrangements are studied. The effects of the different
side-hull arrangement on the maneuvering characteristics are deeply
investigated. The maneuvering hydrodynamic derivatives of the
trimaran ship with the different side-hull arrangement are measured by
using the PMM technique and substituted into equations of
maneuvering motion to simulate the turning circle test and the zig-zag
test. The present results reveal that the arrangements with a little
forward and suitable medium transverse distance have the better
maneuvering characteristics.

MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS

KEY WORDS: trimaran; maneuvering; hydrodynamics; side-hull .

In order to simulate the turning circle and zig-zag tests the following
equations of ship motions (Inoue et al. ,1981) are used,
(1)
m ( u v r ) X
X
X

INTRODUCTION

Because the trimaran ship has the following merits (Fang and Too
2006): (1) Superior fuel consumption efficiency due to its slender ship
hulls. (2) Superior stability due to the suitable adjustment of the side
hulls. (3) Low resistance at high speed due to its slenderness and
adequate arrangement of the side hulls, many related researches about
the trimaran ship are being made worldwide. Most of the related
researches about the performance of trimaran ships concentrated on the
ship resistance in calm water, e.g. Ackers and Michael (1997) and
Begovic et al. (2005), or seakeeping characteristics in waves, e.g. Duan
et al. (2001), Begovic (2003), Fang and Too (2006) and Fang et al.
(2007).
Up to now, it seems that very few references about the maneuvering
characteristics of the trimaran ship are found. It might be due to the
lack of understanding on the type for the trimaran ship or its design
criteria of the steering. Recently Varyani (2002) developed a
hydrodynamic model based on the monohull ship to predict the
hydrodynamic force of the trimaran ship according to the shape and
loading condition variation. He used a numerical model based on the
sway and yaw modes to predict the turning circle test of the trimaran
ship. His method applied the empirical formulas for monohull ship and
the side hulls were treated as two fixed fins. Kang (2002) made a series
of studies on the hydrodynamic performances of a 2500 tons trimaran

m ( v u r ) Y
I

zz

x x

r N H N R
K H K R

2 I

p p

n Q

(2)
(3)
(4)

(5)

where m and I are ship mass and mass moment of inertia respectively.
X and Y are external forces with respect to surge and sway whereas K,
and N are external moment with respect to roll and yaw. Subscripts H,
P, R and E represent the forces due to hull, propeller, rudder and engine
respectively. u, v and w are surge, sway and heave velocities,
respectively, whereas and r are roll displacement and yaw rate,
respectively. The terms Ipp, QE and QP represent the moment of inertia
of propeller-shafting system, the propeller torque and the main engine
torque, respectively (Varyani, 2002). The corresponding forces and
moments are described in the following:
(6)
X H m x u ( m y X v r ) v r X 0 ( u )

YH m y v m x ur

831

1
LdU 2 (Y 'v v ' Y ' r r ' Y ' NL Y ' Roll )
2

(7)