Resistance Predictions for Asymmetrical Configurations of High-Speed Catamaran Hull Forms

This paper attempts to undertake a comparative analysis of resistance characteristics between newly developed asymmetrical catamaran hull forms which were derived from existing conventional NPL series of round bilge catamaran hull forms by Molland, Wellicome and Couser (1994). A set of asymmetrical catamaran hull forms with waterline length of 1.6 m with a separation ratio (s/L) of 0.4 were generated by using standard modelling software. The resistance analysis had been carried out by using STAR CCM+, a computational fluid dynamics package for Froude numbers of 0.25, 0.30, 0.60, 0.80 and 1.0. Literature survey indicates that there is scant historical background in public domain to perform resistance analysis on asymmetrical catamaran hull forms. As this is not feasible due to lack of data in areas that were considered crucial, separate resistance analysis is carried out for each hull configuration. Finally, the compared resistance results will attempt to conclude whether asymmetrical catamaran hull forms are more efficient than the conventional catamaran hull forms.