An Experimental Study on the Effect of the Side Hull Symmetry on the Resistance Performance of a Wave-Piercing Trimaran

Abstract

This paper presented the results of an experimental investigation into the resistance performance of a wave-piercing trimaran with three alternative side hull forms, including asymmetric inboard, asymmetric outboard, and symmetric at various stagger/ separation positions. Model tests were carried out at the National Iranian Marine Laboratory (NIMALA) towing tank using a scale model of a trimaran at the Froude numbers from 0.225 to 0.60. Results showed that by moving the side hulls to the forward of the main hull transom, the total resistance coefficient of trimaran decreased. Findings, furthermore, demonstrated that the symmetry shape of the side hull had the best performance on total resistance among three side hull forms. Results of this study are useful for selecting the side hull configuration from the resistance viewpoint.

Design Process and Advanced Manufacturing of an Aquatic Surface Vehicle Hull for the Integration of a Hydrogen Power Plant Propulsion System

“…For the preliminary design of the trimaran, the state of the art was taken into account. Recent investigations on the design of trimaran have researched the structure [35][36][37][38], the outrigger layout [39][40][41][42], optimization to reduce resistance [42][43][44][45], seakeeping and stability performances [46][47][48], and the design method itself [49][50][51]. From a structural point of view, Daidola et al [35] discussed preliminary structural design procedures for a large highspeed sealift trimaran, while Tang et al [36] applied structure monitoring technology, and Jia et al [37] proposed a lightweight design of a trimaran bulkhead using structural topology optimization.…”

“…The outrigger layout, which refers to the longitudinal and transverse distance between the main hull and the two outriggers, can be optimized to reduce the interference wave resistance between the main hull and the outriggers by means of both numerical [39] and experimental studies [41]. The results of Ghadimi et al [39] showed that trimaran vessels have suitable dynamics with lower longitudinal side bodies and large transversal distances, which was also confirmed by the work of Sun et al [52], in which the flow field between the main hull and demihull can be observed.…”

“…The results of Ghadimi et al [39] showed that trimaran vessels have suitable dynamics with lower longitudinal side bodies and large transversal distances, which was also confirmed by the work of Sun et al [52], in which the flow field between the main hull and demihull can be observed. Moreover, Khoob et al [41] concluded that symmetric side hull shapes had better performance in terms of total resistance than inboard or outboard shapes. Therefore, these last two considerations were taken into account in the preliminary design of the USV.…”