TEST STUDIES OF THE RESISTANCE AND SEAKEEPING PERFORMANCE OF A TRIMARAN PLANING HULL

Towing tank tests in calm water were performed on a trimaran planing hull to verify its navigational properties with different displacements and centres of gravity, as well as to assess the effects of air jets and bilge keels on the hull's planing capabilities, and to increase the longitudinal stability of the hull. Hydrostatic roll tests, zero speed tests, and sea trials in the presence of regular waves were conducted to investigate the hull's seakeeping ability. The test results indicate that the influence of the location of the centre of gravity on the hull resistance is similar to that of a normal trimaran planing hull; namely, moving the centre of gravity backward will reduce the resistance but lower the stability. Bilge keels improve the longitudinal stability but slightly affect the resistance, and the presence of air jets in the hull's channels decreases the trim angle and increases heaving but has little effect on the resistance. Frequent small-angle rolling occurs in waves. The heaving and pitching motions peak at the encounter frequency of, and the peaks increase with velocity and move towards greater encounter frequencies. When the encounter frequency exceeds, the hull motion decreases, which leads to changes in the navigation speed and frequency.