High performance marine vessels

High Performance

Marine Vessels

Liang Yun · Alan Bliault

High Performance Marine Vessels

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Liang Yun ● Alan Bliault

High Performance

Marine Vessels

Liang Yun

Marine Design and Research

Institute of China

Shanghai, China

Alan Bliault

A.S Norske Shell

Sola, Norway

ISBN 978-1-4614-0868-0 e-ISBN 978-1-4614-0869-7

DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-0869-7

Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012932303

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v

Preface

Speed is not simply about velocity in air or water but should be considered in context

with its purpose and the tools available. Until recently in historical terms, the motive

power available for travel over the water was manpower itself or wind. Over many

centuries sailing vessels have been refi ned so that they could harness more of its

power effi ciently, and reach higher into an oncoming wind so as to perform a more

direct route to the objective. The wind is not available to order nevertheless, and so

“speed” achieved is not constant.

The invention of reciprocating engines, initially steam driven, made a step change

for maritime transport, just as it did on land a little over two centuries ago. It changed

the meaning of speed over water, since not only could a vessel be designed to travel

directly to its destination, but also could transport much greater payloads than pos￾sible previously, and could deliver independent of the weather environment.

In the fi rst century of powered marine craft, speeds increased from around

20 knots to about double that. At such speed, there are challenges even for large

craft due to rapid increase of drag on the hull if a boat continues to try to push its

way through. The propeller driving such a vessel also loses effi ciency due to a phe￾nomenon known as cavitation unless specially designed to harness it.

In the early part of the twentieth century, pioneering engineers conquered both

problems and developed planing craft that could travel much faster by skimming

over the water surface. The racing fraternity that grew in this period took things to

the limit and produced craft that were in danger of fl ying if a stray gust of wind

should hit. Commercial and military craft have not tested these boundaries quite so

close, even though in the last half century service speeds for passenger ferry trans￾port have doubled.

The search for more speed—humanity has a tendency always to seek more—has

been enabled through increasingly effi cient and lightweight power plants such as

high-speed diesels and gas turbine engines, and lighter and stronger structural mate￾rials (aluminium alloy, GRP, titanium alloy), that have enabled designers of fast

boats, hydrofoils, and air-cushion craft to develop performance close to physical

limits of speed in a seaway.

vi Preface

In the last 30 years or so, a revolution in electronics has given us the possibility

for automated stabilization of motions that was simply not possible before, together

with big strides in power plant effi ciency, not to mention satellite navigation. These

have been important enablers to comfort at higher speed and high-speed vessel

development.

A series of new variations of high-speed craft or high-performance marine

vessels (HPMV) have been developed in the last half century, including improved

planing monohull craft from the 1940s, hydrofoils from the 1950s air-cushion vehi￾cles and surface effect ships from the 1960s, small water plane area twin hull craft

from the 1970s, high-speed catamarans from the 1980s, wave piercing craft from

the 1990s, high-speed trimarans in the fi rst decade of twenty-fi rst century, and wing

in ground effect craft from 1970s to the present. These various concepts and the

hybrids that we will describe form an interacting group of vehicle concepts.

Designers, scientists, and various organizations both commercial, military and

governmental have dedicated resources over the last century, and particularly heav￾ily in the last 50 years to fi nd ways that combinations of the hull geometries, hydro￾foils, and static or dynamic air cushions can be used to deliver speedy vessels that

can perform very challenging missions. This work continues, still strongly driven

by military objectives, and increasingly now by energy effi ciency and environmen￾tal impact rather than simply the mission envelope defi ned by speed/payload/

environment/range.

A product such as a high-speed marine vessel can only be successful if it is able

to fulfi l a market requirement in an appropriate way. To deliver people or cargo

effi ciently, there must be a timing fi t, often with other transportation linking in at

each end of the mission. This applies in the military environment just as much as for

Ferries or utility missions. As the other transport elements develop, this also changes

the demand for the marine transport and can affect their continued success in ser￾vice. Until recently it has been the cost of fuel that has played a large part in HPMV

economy. While this continues, the cost inclusive of environmental impact is becom￾ing a strong driver to further develop powering effi ciency.

Both technology and human society are continually developing. To the present

largely fuelled by hydrocarbon-derived energy, this societal development has accel￾erated greatly over the past half century as the population has also grown worldwide

mainly concentrated around large cities. Fast marine craft have matured, while still

having a much wider variety of concepts in use than that available for passenger

aircraft that have converged to a narrow variation around a geometrical confi gura￾tion and mass production. Maybe this is because the range of applications is much

wider for HPMV. It does at least continue to offer opportunities for Aero-Marine

Engineers to be involved in a wide range of concepts and challenging operations!

In this book, we refer to the craft family as HPMV, as the vessels are not only

built for high speed, but may also have other attributes such as amphibious

capability (air-cushion vehicles) or extreme seaworthiness (SWATH). Specialists

from some countries refer to such craft simply as high-speed craft (HSC); however,

the use of HPMV is more common now, and we will use that description and acro￾nym in this book.

Preface vii

The authors have been concerned with HPMV for a long time. Liang Yun has

more than 40 years of experience at the Marine Design and Research Institute of

China, Shanghai (MARIC), and 20 years plus as the Chairman of HPMV Design

subcommittee of the China Society of Naval Architecture and Marine engineering,

CSNAME, as well as organizing the annual International HPMV Conference,

Shanghai, China for a dozen years. He has been involved in ACV development in

China since the very fi rst prototypes were constructed in Harbin in the late 1950s

and has been involved to some extent in design of many other vessel types treated

here. Alan Bliault has also worked in the ACV industry in its early days as a Naval

Architect, but became involved in the offshore oil industry in the early 1980s and so

has led a double life since that time, in order to maintain his connections with the

world of fast marine craft.

Some while ago, we decided to write a series of books on the analysis and design

of different HPMV and have completed two on individual craft: “Theory and Design

of Air Cushion Craft” (2000); “WIG and Ekranoplan, Ground Effect Technology”

(2009) presenting the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic theory behind these two

types. This will be followed by volumes on Catamarans/Trimarans and Monohulls/

Hydrofoils in due course.

We do feel that many people have a strong interest in this technology, however

while many HPMV are in operation in different parts of the world, until now there

has not been a single volume giving an overview, discussing the differences and

special features between them, as well as the approach to selection taken in various

cases for both civil and military applications. So, we present this book entitled

“High-Performance Marine Vessels” for reader’s interest.

We cover as many HPMV concepts as practical within a single volume, with

technical summary descriptions and discussion of the design drivers as an introduc￾tion for a wide readership. We include many pictures and fi gures describing the

shapes and confi gurations as well as features of various HPMV, together with some

tables to introduce the leading particulars of the craft types. Our idea with this book

has been to survey HPMV development, the market drivers, and the responses over

time of the marine construction industry.

The book introduces the HPMV family of craft concepts in Chap. 1 . Chapters

2 – 6 introduce successively the ACV, SES, WIG, Hydrofoils, Monohulls, Catamarans,

Wave piercers, and Trimarans. In Chap. 7 hybrid and novel HPMV confi gurations

are surveyed. A review and comparison of various HPMV, and the strong competi￾tion between various types in the worldwide civil and military markets through their

development and their future prospects is covered in Chap. 8 .

We have included an appendix summarizing the British “InterService Hovercraft

Trials Unit” IHTU, and its successor NHTU as an example of how the military

development provided leverage for a concept development. In the USA, the hydro￾foil was supported through a series of programmes, and in Russia the ekranoplan

followed such a programme. Both are referred to in the main chapters and detail is

available in the references and resources.

If the reader is encouraged by this book to dig deeper, then at the end of this book

there are references used and a listing of sources that are useful in enquiry into

viii Preface

HPMV. The internet can be rather a maze, so we hope this listing can be a help to

home in on useful data without getting too sidetracked.

The book is written particularly for the following readers:

• Students in middle and high schools

• Students and teachers in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, and other

concerned faculties of universities and institutes

• Staff members, technicians, and engineers of marine transportation units,

shipping companies, shipyards, ship research institutes, and other concerned

units for both civil and naval organizations

• All people who are interested in the HPMV in both military and civil

applications

In tracing the historical background to the different craft, we refer to many

famous people in the marine world who have played their part in major technologi￾cal achievements. There are many more than just the names you will meet here, and

we salute all those who have dedicated their lives to these great endeavours. The

results can bring great satisfaction, at least for a while, until the next challenge

appears, and the urge to take the next step becomes imperative. There are of course

disagreements in some areas as to who came up with ideas fi rst or had the greatest

impact. Readers of the Wikipedia can experience this simply by browsing the dis￾cussions behind many entries. In fact we believe it is amazing that such similar ideas

can often surface at opposite sides of the world at similar times, and hope that both

or all sides can celebrate the ideas themselves.

There is still a long way to go before technology development reaches its abso￾lute limits. We are close regarding pure speed, but economy, passenger comfort, and

environmental impact are still signifi cant challenges for the twenty-fi rst century to

grapple with. We will discuss a little of this, and hope some who read this book will

play their part in driving HPMV forward in the future!

The content of the book may seem in a slightly random sequence, dealing with

ACV and WIG craft fi rst. The logic is that these concepts are more out on the edges

of the technology while the monohull, hydrofoil, multihull, and then the hybrids do

follow a more natural sequence and interaction, allowing us to move more smoothly

to a concluding chapter on opportunities. Readers may equally well start at Chap. 4

and move forward, returning to Chaps. 2 and 3 later if they wish.

Shanghai, China Liang Yun

Sola, Norway Alan Bliault

ix

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to the leadership and col￾leagues of the Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC), and China

Society of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (CSNAME), as well as

Shanghai Association of Shipbuilding Industry (SASI), including Prof. Xing Wen￾Hua (Managing Director, MARIC), Mr. Wang Gao Zhong (Deputy Managing

Director of MARIC), Prof. Huang Ping-Tao, President, CSNAME, Mr. Zhou Zhen￾Bai, President, SASI, and Mr. Yang Xin-Fa, Secretary General, SASI; Senior

Engineers Sun Yong-Hua, Tao Ping-Ping, and Wu Chen-Ji, all of MARIC; Senior

Information Engineer Chiao Yun from MARIC; and Prof. Liang Qi Kang, Former

Managing Director of MARIC.

Thanks also to Jeffrey Hu (computer software engineer) and Kelvin X. Yun

(fi nancial specialist) for their help during the writing of this book.

Image Acknowledgements

We give special thanks to the following for their kind agreement to use their images

(fi gure references in parentheses): The National Gallery, London (1.2); Discovery

Museum, Tyne and Wear (1.5 and 1.7); Airlift Hovercraft (2.67); Supramar (3.30,

3.31, 5.4, 5.15, 5.16); Sea Eagle (3.32a, b); C&S AMT, Bang Wan Chun (3.34a, b);

Wingship Technology Corporation, Jin H Park (3.35); Wigetworks (3.36); Universal

Hovercraft (3.37); The Trireme Trust UK (c)1988 Paul Lipke (4.1) Arnesen

Propulsion Systems (4.13); Lurrsen Shipyards, Klaus Jordan (4.16); Windy Yachts,

Knut Heiberg Andersen (4.19), Millenium Superyachts (4.17); Austal (4.23, 6.4,

6.9, 6.11, 6.24–6.29, 8.25); Incat (4.24, 6.16–6.19, 8.9); Rodriquez (5.17, 5.18,

5.33, 6.10, 8.28); Condor (6.14 and 6.15); ESI/SESEU (7.6a, b, 7.7a–c); Navatek

(7.15a, b); Quinetiq (7.18, 7.19, 7.20, 7.21); M Ship Company (7.22–7.27); Textron

Land & Marine Systems (8.6 and 8.7); Sabdes Design, Scott Blee (8.27);

NaplesImage.com, Jay Nichols (6.13); Turbine Marine (4.15); Bluebird Supporters

Club, Mike Varndell (6.21 and 6.22); BMT Nigel Gee (6.30 and 6.31); Stena Line

x Acknowledgements

(6.7–6.9, 6.20); British Power Boat Racing Club and Graham Stevens (1.11 and

4.14); Boeing (3.29).

We would like to thank John Gifford and the personnel of GriffonHoverwork for

their help with many photos and updated information on amphibious hovercraft in

Chap. 2 .

Our thanks also to Alan Blunden of Fast Ferry International for images 8.10–

8.14 taken on one of his many photographic forays to Hong Kong. Most appreci￾ated. Special thanks also to Brian Russell, who contributed Appendix 1 giving a

taste of the experience gained in the UK through the Interservices and Naval

Hovercraft Trials Units.

We are proud to be able to present publicly available images from the US Navy

and Marines throughout this book, many taken by enthusiastic crew of the various

vessels and the LCAC Craft. Many missions of mercy have been undertaken by

these personnel in the recent past following environmental calamities all over the

world and deserve congratulation for their dedication to this work.

We have used a number of publicly available images from WIKI Commons and

thank the organization for their work. The WIKI is an invaluable source of informa￾tion which is recommended, so long as you take care in interpreting the information

as it is constantly being updated!

Finally heartfelt thanks to our families, who have been very patient over the last

3 years while this book has been in preparation, and to the editorial staff at Springer

who have been consistently encouraging, as well as incredibly patient while the

fi nal product took form.

Liang Yun

Alan Bliault

xi

Contents

1 Introduction: High-Performance Marine Vessels .................................. 1

Our Subject ................................................................................................. 1

The Excitement of Speed ............................................................................ 1

The Search for Performance ....................................................................... 2

Resistance to Motion: Drag in Water and Air ............................................. 10

Reducing Resistance to Motion .................................................................. 11

Static Buoyancy ...................................................................................... 12

Hydrodynamic Lift, the Principle of the Planing Hull ............................ 12

The Hydrofoil .......................................................................................... 14

Static Air Cushion Lift ............................................................................ 15

Aerodynamic Lift .................................................................................... 16

Passenger Comfort and Other Requirements .............................................. 16

Costs: Construction and Operation ............................................................. 20

Environment and the Future ........................................................................ 21

2 Air Cushion Craft...................................................................................... 23

It Started with a Coffee Tin ......................................................................... 23

Flexible Skirts ............................................................................................. 26

Responsive Skirts .................................................................................... 29

Experiences from the Early Days in China ............................................. 30

Plough-In and Overturning of ACV ........................................................ 31

Skirt Developments ................................................................................. 32

Air Propulsion ............................................................................................. 34

Amphibious Hovercraft Development ........................................................ 37

Sidewall Hovercraft .................................................................................... 59

Chinese SES Experiences ....................................................................... 62

European and USA SES Development ................................................... 64

Norway .................................................................................................... 69

Japan ....................................................................................................... 73

Russia ...................................................................................................... 76

xii Contents

Sweden .................................................................................................... 76

China ....................................................................................................... 77

Further Development .................................................................................. 78

Cost, Fuel Consumption, and Technology .............................................. 78

Performance in a Seaway ........................................................................ 79

Size Limitations ...................................................................................... 81

Moving Forward ......................................................................................... 82

3 Wings in Ground Effect: Ekranoplans and WIG Craft ........................ 89

The “Caspian Sea Monster” ........................................................................ 89

Skimming Close to the Surface ................................................................... 89

Basic Principles of WIG Craft .................................................................... 91

Types of WIG .............................................................................................. 94

Classic WIG ................................................................................................ 95

Power Augmented Ram Wing in Ground Effect Craft ............................... 102

Dynamic Air Cushion Craft ........................................................................ 106

DACWIG, the Amphibious WIG ................................................................ 109

WIG Stability—Personal Experiences ........................................................ 115

Classifi cation of WIG.................................................................................. 116

The Technical Challenges of WIG Development ....................................... 118

Takeoff in Waves ..................................................................................... 118

Economy ............................................................................................... 119

Safety and Manoeuvrability .................................................................... 120

External Noise ......................................................................................... 121

Research and Development—the Seabus-Hydaer Programme ................... 121

WIG Evolution—Current Smaller Craft Development Programmes ......... 124

WIG Potential ............................................................................................. 130

4 High-Speed Monohull Craft..................................................................... 133

From Oars to Sail ........................................................................................ 133

From Sail to Steam...................................................................................... 137

Refi ning the Hull Shape .............................................................................. 138

Skimming Over the Surface ........................................................................ 139

Stepped Hulls .............................................................................................. 141

Flat-Bottomed Boats: The Air Boat ............................................................ 143

The Deep V Hull Confi guration .................................................................. 144

Racing Craft Development ......................................................................... 147

Super Yachts ................................................................................................ 149

Design Challenges and Applications .......................................................... 151

Moving Forward ......................................................................................... 159

5 Hydrofoil Craft .......................................................................................... 161

Boats with Wings ........................................................................................ 161

Shallow-Submerged Hydrofoils .................................................................. 167

Surface-Piercing Hydrofoil Development .................................................. 173

Advantages and Disadvantages of Surface-Piercing Hydrofoils ............ 179

Contents xiii

Deep-Submerged Hydrofoil Craft ............................................................... 181

Naval Hydrofoils in the USA .................................................................. 183

Developments in Russia .......................................................................... 192

Israel ....................................................................................................... 193

Passenger Ferry Craft .................................................................................. 194

Italy ......................................................................................................... 197

China ....................................................................................................... 198

Norway .................................................................................................... 199

Switzerland ............................................................................................. 201

Moving On .............................................................................................. 202

6 Catamarans and Multihull Craft ............................................................ 203

Canoes and Outriggers ................................................................................ 203

Basic Catamaran Confi gurations ................................................................. 208

Features of High Speed Catamarans ........................................................... 209

Heavy Hull Weight ...................................................................................... 213

Poor Comfort in Quartering and Beam Seas ............................................... 214

Passenger and Car/Passenger Ferry Craft ................................................... 214

Jumbo Car–Passenger Ferry ....................................................................... 216

Naval Patrol Craft ....................................................................................... 218

Logistic Support Vessel ............................................................................... 218

Planing Catamaran ...................................................................................... 220

Wave Piercing Catamarans ......................................................................... 224

Trimarans .................................................................................................... 232

Pentamaran .................................................................................................. 241

Super Slender High-Speed Catamaran ........................................................ 243

Small Water Plane Area Twin Hull Craft .................................................... 243

Minimized Motion of Ship in Waves .......................................................... 247

Low Wave-Making Resistance ................................................................... 247

Large Deck Area and Superstructure Cabin Space ..................................... 248

Manoeuvrability and Course Keeping ........................................................ 248

Propulsion Performance .............................................................................. 249

Limitations of SWATH Craft ...................................................................... 249

Applications ................................................................................................ 253

Comparisons ............................................................................................... 255

7 Novel and Hybrid High-Speed Craft....................................................... 257

Hybrid HPMV ............................................................................................. 257

Air Cavity Craft .......................................................................................... 258

Foil-Assisted Catamaran ............................................................................. 266

CAT and HYC Compared ........................................................................... 267

Foil-Assisted SWATH (HYSWAC) ............................................................ 270

Semi-SWATH CAT with Bulbous Bow ...................................................... 273

Partial Air Cushion-Supported Catamaran .................................................. 277

M Craft ........................................................................................................ 280

xiv Contents

M Craft Confi guration ................................................................................. 280

Hydrodynamic Effi ciency ........................................................................... 282

Seakeeping .................................................................................................. 284

Future Prospects .......................................................................................... 284

8 HPMV Market and Future ...................................................................... 287

HPMV Capability Contrasted ..................................................................... 287

Marketing Analysis ..................................................................................... 289

HPMV Evolution and Competition ............................................................ 296

The Landing Craft Mission in the US Navy ........................................... 296

Ferry Routes as a Driver for HPMV Development..................................... 299

English Channel Ferries .......................................................................... 299

Pearl River Delta Ferries ......................................................................... 301

The Taiwan Strait: A Developing Prospect ............................................. 305

Naval High-Speed Vessel Programmes....................................................... 307

LCS Programme Development ............................................................... 310

JHSV Programme Development ............................................................. 312

Future Prospects .......................................................................................... 313

Appendix 1: UK Military Hovercraft Trials Units ....................................... 323

Glossary ........................................................................................................... 335

References ........................................................................................................ 337

Index ................................................................................................................. 349