Ship-generated Loading

The change in draught- and speed-related ship-induced loading on the shipping routes entails a definition of the characteristic parameters (e.g. ship wave system, displacement current) and requires knowledge of the functional relationships (e.g. ship speed and vessel width, shipping channel conditions, passing clearance). Picture 1 shows a diagram of the ship wave system among others.

Since the start of the new century, a large number of analytical and empirical methods have been developed for calculating the interaction of ship and waterway. Initial calculations with hydrodynamic-numerical models reveal deviations compared to the results of hydraulic scale models, so that these numerical models cannot yet be viewed as a confirmed scientific aid for determining upgrading-related changes to ship-induced loading in shipping channels. At the moment, it is only possible to make confirmed quantitative predictions of ship-induced loadings in inhomogeneous waterways by means of hydraulic model tests in a scientifically confirmed model scale (state-of-the-art engineering and science).

In recent years, the BAW Hamburg office has looked at the issue of the interaction between seagoing ship and tidal fairways both with studies on hydraulic models and with field study measurements.

Author: K. Uliczka

• Definition of the Characteristic Parameters
• Functional Relationships
• Analytical and Empirical Methods
• Hydrodynamic Numerical Methods

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