An experimental investigation into the influence of the damage openings on ship response

• The ship behavior in three different damage scenarios, involving the same compartment, is studied.
• The effects of the flooded water motions across the damage hole, on ship dynamics, are studied.
• Experimental tests on roll decay and on ship motions in beam waves for the damage cases are performed.
• Comparison and analysis of the results for the three damage scenarios are carried out.

Ship motions after damage are difficult to evaluate since they are affected by complex phenomena regarding fluid and structures interactions. The possibility to better understand how ship behavior in damage is influenced by these phenomena is important for improving ship safety, especially for passenger vessel.In this paper an experimental campaign is carried out on a passenger ferry hull, to show the effects of the water dynamics across damage openings on ship motions. Novel aspects of this research include the study of the effects of the damage position on the ship roll response. The study is carried out for still water and for beam regular waves at zero speed.Results from the experiments carried out underline that the roll behavior of a damaged ship is affected by the position of damage opening and not only by its size. Assuming the same final equilibrium conditions after flooding but characterized by different damage openings it is possible to observe how motions RAOs and roll decay characteristics modify according to the opening locations.