A STUDY OF WAVE RESISTANCE CHARACTERISTICS THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF WAVE HEIGHT AND SLOPE ALONG A LONGITUDINAL TRACK

The system of waves generated by a ship has a direct relationship to its hull form. The purpose in analysing the wave system is therefore to determine this relationship and thereby its wave resistance characteristics. In particular such an analysis could produce ships of minimum resistance. It is possible in principle to compute from theory the wave pattern generated by a ship, but at present the only practical theory available for this purpose is that of the thin ship. This linear theory is not sufficiently accurate except possibly for submerged simple forms such as bulbs. The results indicate that the linear wave theory may, in the case of relatively fine hull forms, satisfactorily predict the major part of the wave-resistance characteristics of a hull from Longitudinal Cuts. For full hull forms it is possible that wave-breaking becomes a major component of resistance which does not show up in the form of a free wave pattern. What has been presented is mainly a detailed description of the method of analysis and the experimental techniques together with a few numerical results. It is hoped that the Longitudinal Cut method will prove successful in the future.