Experimental Investigation of the Nonlinear Effects on the Statistics of Vertical Motions and Loads of a Containership in Irregular Waves

The paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of the nonlinear effects on the vertical motions and loads on a containership model advancing in irregular waves. The experimental data are compared with numerical results from a nonlinear time domain strip method. The tests were carried out in a seakeeping tank using three sea states with significant wave heights of 4.2 m, 6.1 m, and 9.9 m, thus including very severe conditions. The measured responses include the absolute and relative motions, vertical accelerations, and cross-sectional loads at midship and ¼ Lpp from the forward perpendicular. The statistics of the experimental records demonstrate partly the nonlinear behavior of the responses, especially of the structural loads. The probability distributions of the positive and negative peaks show that the heave and pitch motions are only slightly asymmetric and their distributions compare well with the Rayleigh distribution. The vertical loads present distributions of peaks that are highly asymmetric and deviate from the Rayleigh distribution. Comparisons between simulated results and experimental data show that the numerical model is able to represent the nonlinear characteristics of the responses.