The Fundamentals of Ship.

Model Testing
BY D r . F R E D E R I C K H . TODD, M E M B E R 2
I N T R O D U C T I O N in 1721. Between 1750 and 1760 C h a p m a n The objects of this paper are to give a general is believed to have carried out some experiments idea of the fundamental conceptions underlying in Sweden. Experiments on ship models in a small t a n k the use of mode]s for predicting the performance some 30 feet long were carried out b y Bird in of full-sized ships, to outline some of the many problems involved in the model experiment 1756 [4]. H e towed his models b y a string field, and to indicate how such experiments may passing over a pulley. No direct measurements be used to, help in the design of better and more of resistance were made, the merits of a n y new form being measured b y comparison with a efficient ships. It Will be assumed that the reader is familiar standard model. BelfjaminJ Franklin became with the main features of the ship resistance interested in this subject during one of his visits and propulsion problem These have been set to Europe, a n d in 1764 tested models to ~:erify out in two earlier "fundamental" papers by observations he had made in Holland to the the author [i] [2].~ Also, no attempt will be effect t h a t resistance to motion increased in made to describe the details of model basins shallow water. In 1773 Euler proposed the use and their principal equipment, which has already of ship models for investigating the effects of been done in numerous papers. The facilities shape on resistance [5]. Around 1770 the Paris at the David Taylor Model Basin, for example, Academy asked d'Alembert, Condorcet and have been excellently and very fully described Bossut to s t u d y ship resistance in shallow water in papers by Captain H. E. Saunders, U.S.N., and canals. In 1775 they built a towing basin some 32.5 meters (106 feet) long, 17.2 meters one-time Director of the Basin [3]. The history of the development of ship-model (56 feet) wide and 2.10 meters (6.9 feet) m a x i m u m testing is a fascinating one, and a knowledge depth [6]. T h e models were towed b y a falling weight of it helps greatly in appreciating the many problems in which we are involved today. A (Fig. 1), and the speed was measured b y observabrief historical outline of the subject has there- tion of the times at which the model crossed fore been included as a preface to the more tech- a n u m b e r of equally spaced sighting lines Experiments were made with models having difnical sections which follow. ferent bow shapes, including square, wedge and half-cylinder endings. I n 1778 Bossut carried HISTORICAL out further experiments on the influence of M a n y eminent mathematicians and scientists have found their interest a t t r a c t e d to the problems bow shape, in a basin double the size of the original one [7]. An interesting proposal was p u t forward of fluid dynamics and the best shape of ships b y a writer in " P a p e r s on N a v a l Architecture," and other bodies in order to obtain m i n i m u m published in Lo.ndon in 1790, to use models resistance to motion. In the 17th century in a small t a n k with flowing water, using speeds Newton worked on problems in this field, to be up to 6 or 7 knots, and measuring the.resistance followed in the next century b y Euler, Bernoulli b y means of weights on a cord passing over and others. T h e earliest known proposal for a pulley. I t will be seen t h a t at this early date the use of towed models for the investigation two of the three facilities now commonly used of ship resistance was a suggestion b y Swedenborg in resistance experiments, the small g r a v i t y t Paper presented at April 6, 1951, meeting of the N e w England towing t a n k and the circulating water 'channel Section of The Society of N a v a l Architects and Marine Engineers, Cambridge, Mass. or flume, had already been used or proposed. 2 Chief N a v a l Architect, The D a v i d Taylor Model Basin, N a v y Interest in these methods of estimating ship Department, Washington, D. C. N u m b e r s in brackets indicate references listed at the end of this resistance b y the use of models became v e r y paper.

850

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHIP M O D E L T E S T I N G

851

g Weighl-

'

"
:3"

Lines

- -/@ 1

//

/ ~

//

l ' -I

//

" ~ ' ~-1

]"

//

"I

. I

. II

~
I ,
,

' I

, I

i I

'-

, .

. /

-7----,.---~-, - / ~ . - : z/- - _ h .L . / ~ / / /
~ ~

/ i
/

/. I

v" l

-L.....---p~, .Model, i
.: lI

""

"~ . . . . .

F i o . 1 . - - T O W I N G B A S I N AT THE P A R I S E C O L E M I L I T A I R E ,

177,5

great in England at this time, doubtless stimulated by the ship building necessitated by the Napoleonid wars. Many experiments, were carried out by Beaufoy. He used the gravity method of towing the models, doing his experiments in the Greenland Dock in London between 1793 and 1798. The results were published by his son some forty years later [8]. His models included ship shape forms, prismatic bodies and flat planes. An interesting example of the early rise of models to solve problems of ship resistance is found in the design of the 'first "clipper" ship. In the early years of the 19th century, the firm of-Alexander Hall, of Aberdeen, Scotland, had a well-deserved reputation for building sailing packet 'ships. By 1830 the firm was managed

by Alexander's two sons, James and William the latter, being the technical designer. He carried out exhaustive experiments with models in a glass-sided tank 10 feet long by 16. iflches deep and 12 inches wide (Fig..2), which was filled with water to a depth of about 10 inches; with a top layer 1I/2 inches "thick of transparent red-colored spirits of turpentine. The model was towed by. a. line passing over a drum and carrying a towing weight. By using the same weight on different models, the relative speeds could be judged, and the movement of the red fluid around the hull allowed :the observer ,to see the general flow pattern on different models. T h e f i r s t ship designed from these experiments was the Scottish Maid, which proved remarkably successful and speedy. The report by. William

'

" - ~ - ~

Fro. 2.--TowINO

T A N K OF AL]~X:~NDER H A L L & C o . , ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND, 18.30

852

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

Hall detailing these experiments states t h a t " t h e perpendicular longitudinal lines of the forebody ought to be as acute as the horizontal lines, thereby giving i~s fair. course for the water downwards as for dividing it horizontally. This is most fully attained b y raking the whole bow' f o r w a r d . . . " [9]. In this way arose the typical clipper bow, described as "a long, sharp bow, generally flaring outward as it rose above the water, and a long, .clean run aft. T h e entrance lines were hollow" [10]. I t m a y .be of interest to m a n y to know t h a t model experiments played some p a r t in the design of such a famous class of ships. T o w a r d the middle of the 19th century considerable thought was given to the problem of ship resistance b y such m e n as Scott-RusseU and Rankine. The former made observations on the wave resistance of barges in canals, and deduced the presence of a critical speed in such cases, while Rankine studied the m a t h e m a t i c a l theory of streamline flow. William Froude, a civil engineer b y training, was associate of I. K. Brunel, the famous railway engineer who built the G r e a t Western Railway in England from London to Bristol. Brunel became interested in an extension from Bristol to the United States b y means of a line of ships, and in this way Froude himself became interested in ship problems, particularly rolling and resistance. He, t o o , began b y using the gravity towing method, of a weight on a cord passing from the model over a pulley. He was making experiments in 1862 Or 1863 in this way in a large, masonry rain-water t a n k near his house [11]. H e apparently was dissatisfied with this method, because of the sag in the wire and because the run was too short to allow the model 'to build up the correct steady wave pattern and so to develop the correct wave-making resistance. H e also towed models from a launch on the River Dart, Devon, assessing their relative merits b y comparative tests. As a result of such experiments, , he formulated his " L a w of Comparison" in 1869, which stated under w h a t conditions model tests could be used for "the prediction of full-scale resistance. The. same law. had previously been put forward b y the French N a v a l Constructor Reech in 1844 [12], b u t he had not pursued it nor demonstrated how it could be applied to the practical problem of predicting ship resistance, a development which was due to William Froude, and. which has established him as the true father of ship model testing. I n 1870 he persuaded the British Admiralty to provide the funds for building an experiment tank, his request b e i n g a very moderate one-

for 1000 to build it and 1000 to. run it for two years. His own services were given free throughout. T h e t a n k was built at Torquay, in Devon, England, in 1871, and represented the first experiment t a n k of the kind we know t o d a y With a traveling carriage. I t was 278 feet long, 36 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and Froude used models up to 11 or 12 feet in length. I t is interesting to note t h a t at this time Froude was already 61 years of age. In order to convince the Admiralty of the reliability of model experiments, Froude persuaded them t o m a k e the sloop H.M.S. Greyhound available to him,for full-scale towing tests. H e made these tests v e r y carefully, and his account of the preparations and trials is well worth s t u d y as showing this great pioneer's clear grasp of the problems and the ingenuity he brought to their solution. T h e Greyhound trials showed the essential t r u t h of Froude's L a w of Comparison as regards the wave-making resistance, b u t absolute agreement, with model predictions was not attained. This was in large p a r t due to the state of the copper with which the b o t t o m of the Greyhound was sheathed. Froude's work on the resistance of flat planks was also classical and indeed to this d a y represents the basis of all model-ship predictions made b y European tanks. T h e second experiment t a n k in the world was built b y B. J. T i d e m a n for the Royal D u t c h N a v y in the N a v a l Y a r d a t A m s t e r d a m in 1873. I t was used until the close of the century for tests on D u t c h naval and mercantile vessels, but being in the open air eventually fell into disuse. T h e third t a n k has the distinction of being also the first one built b y a private shipbuilding firm for its own use in design problems. I t was built in .1884 b y William D e n n y ' s of D u m barton, Scotland, and is still in v e r y active use. T h e usefulness of the tank constructed, b y Froude at T o r q u a y showed the British Admiralty the need for a larger facility, and a new one was constructed at "Haslar, near Portsmouth, in 1886, under the direction of R. E. Froude, William's son, who succeeded him in charge of the Admiralty tanks. This was considerably larger than the original T o r q u a y tank, being _400 feet X 20 feet )< 9 feet. I t is still in operation, with the original carriage, built of hollow wood girders for lightness, and forms a valuable adjunct to the fine new t a n k built near it in 1932. I n 1899, Sir Charles Parsons, of turbine fame, was carrying out model experiments in a t a n k 12 feet deep, using a falling weight to provide

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL TESTING

855

the towing force and an additional weight over THE FUNDAMENTALBASIS OF SHIP the first part of i:he run to provide acceleration I~ODEL TESTING [11]. T h e accelerating distance was 50 feet, Model testing will be of' value to the naval while the .length of the constant-speed recording architect only if the results can be applied with run was 101.33 feet. some certainty to the prediction of the resistance The first towing tank built in the United'States and power of the fuil-sized ship and, in particular, was completed in the N a v y Yard at Washington, if they will give accurately the relative merits D. C., in 1900. I t was christened the "U. S. of alternative designs. This problem of passing Experimental Model. Basin," and has a length from model to ship is an extremely difficult of 470 feet, a width at the water surface of 42 feet, one, and c a n n o t be said to have been solved and a depth along the cente~ line o f 1 4 feet. The completely, even today. towing carriage weighs 40 tons, and is-driven The resistance of a model or ship is usually. by four 50-horsepower motors, giving a speed measured by' the force which would be ndcessary range from 1/2 to. 15 knots i13]. This basin to tow her through smooth water, and the power operated for many years under the inspiring guid- so expended is called the tow-rope or effective ance of Admiral D. W. Taylor, and much work horsepower (EHP). of inestimable value to naval architects has Four different components go to make up t h e issued from i t - - t h e famous "Standard Series" total resistance of a model or ship : associated with Taylor's name, which is-used (1) Skin friction resistance, due to the moveas a yardstick .to measure hull resistance qualities ment of the hull through .a v i s c o u s fluid. A throughout the world, ' a n d - t h e m a n y propeller layer of water surrounding the hull (the boundary design charts, to. mention only two researches layer) is given a forward velocity and after the carried out there. ship has passed, this remains as a frictional wake. Since 1900 many-experiment tanks have been The momentum in this wake has been derived built all over the world. T h e y are generally from the ship, and forms a continuous drain either large, using mechanically propelled towing of energy and so a source of r e s i s t a n c e . . I t is carriages, or small, using the falling weight a most important part "of the total resistance, and cord method of towing. The former use being as much as .80 per.cent in slow cargo ~hips, models from 12 to 30 feet in length, the latter and still some 50 per cent in high-speed warships. models from 3 to 7 feet in length. In the United (2) Wave-making resistance. A body mpving States the latter are represented b y the tanks in a fluid creates a pressure field around it, which at Stevens Institute, Newport News Shipbuilding i n t h e presence of a free surface results in the" Company, Webb Institute, Massachusetts In- formation of a wave system. The waves are stitute of Technology and Northwestern Univer- constantly being formed and left behind b y the sity. vessel, thus being another source of resistance. The larger kind, using a towing carriage, are For high-speed ships it may amoun't to 50 per found at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, cent of the total. and in the U. S. N a v y establishments at WashingI t is interesting to note that for a completely ton, D. C. Here the original Experimental submerged body, well below the surface, this Model Basin of 1900 is still in use for experiments type of resistance becomes vanishingly small. with models in w a v e s , .althoug h its facilities If, in addition, we consider such a body in a!nonhave been augmented g r e a t l y : b y those at t h e viscous fluid, so that the skin fn.'ction d r a g David Taylor Model Basin 'at Carderoek, Md., Vanishes, the body will experience no resistance. a laboratory operated by the U. S. N a v y Depart- This is the well-known par~/dox of d'AIemvert. ment through the Bureau of Ships and possessing . (3) E d d y resistance, due to the energy c~rried perhaps the finest facilil:ies existing today in the away b y eddies formed around stem fittings, field of hydromechanies research. These in- bossings, or local regions on the hull where the clude virtually four towing basins and carriages, curvature is so sharp that the water cannot with m a n y additional special-purpose facilities. follow the shalbe and breaks away. This last T h e y are available not 0nly to help the N a v y kind of eddy resistance is sometimes referred to to solve its m a n y urgent and complex problems, as "separation resistance," since it is accompanied but also to help industry produce efficient mer- by a separation of the boundary layer from the chants ships b y testing models and b y advising hull surface. At this point the flow a g a i n s t as to the changes in hull design or propellers the hull is reversed with the consequent formation which m a y improve the performance. : of e d d i e s . This results in increased resistance,

854

F U N D A M E N T A L S OF S H I P M O D E L T E S T I N G
,' ,_ , I

and its occurrence should be eliminated or re-" duced by "proper attention to" the shape of the afterbody waterlines-and buttocks.. Even without separation, there can be some additional resistance at the stern due to the fact that the b o u n d a r y layer prevents the normal pressure increase over the stern which is characteristic of potential flow. (4) Air resistance is .caused b y the motion of the above-water part of the hull and superstructure through the air. I n average cases it amounts t o some 2 per cent of the total. This i s not represented in the model tests and must be allowed for separately. The above division of the total resistance is convenient but not scientifically correct, since the first three types all react one with the other. Thus the skin drag gives rise to a boundary layer which virtually alters the shape of the hull and hence the pressure distribution and t h e resulting wave-making resistance. Also, the wave system alters the wetted surface and so the skin friction resistance. Nevertheless, it is convenient to make such a division for practical use, but the presence and interaction of all these factors well illustrate the complexity of the shipresistance problem. The question now arises as to how we can use the total measured resistance of the model, involving as it does all these different types of resistance, to calculate that of the full-sized ship. If all followed a single general law of variation with change in absolute size, it would be easy to do so; we m u s t therefore investigate how each of .them will vary as we make such changes in size to see if this fortunate circumstance is b y any chance true. Assuming that tl:le resistance of a model moving on the surface of a real fluid depends upon certain properties o f - t h e fluid, the size of the model, as denoted by some characteristic dimension, and the speed of the motion, the theory of dimensions m a y be used to find the form of the parameters which must be held constant in any change of scale in order that the flow patterns may be geometrically similar. Let R = p = V= L = g = P = resistance of hull mass density of fluid velocity of hull length of hull viscosity of fluid acceleration due to gravity pressure pet unit area at any point in the fluid

R or, writing I~/p = of viscosity, pV~L , f v =

o,

(t)

kinematic coefficient

,~,

(2)

Since the wetted surface S of similar forms is proportional to L 2, we can write the left-hand side of equation (2) in the more usual form of the specific total resistance coefficient Cr:

.,<
Cr = ~aS.V~ = f ,-~, (3) T h e theory Of dimensions does not give any further assistance in determining the form of the function f. Equation (3) states in effect that if all the parameters on the right-hand side have the same values for two geometrically similar but different sized bodies, then the .flow patterns will be similar and Cr will be the same for each. If we congider first the case of a non-viscous liquid so that there is no skin drag, and neglect for the moment the last term P/pV2: we have left the wave-making or residuary resistance, which for similar forms is a function of the hull size L, of the speed V, and' of the gravitational acceleration g which controls the surface waves, so that we can write the wave-making resistance coefficient as RR CR = 1/.~oSV~ ~

f, ~

(V')

(4)

If we assume that R is a function of these quantifies and apply the theory of dimensions, we find that

This means that geometrically similar bodies of different size will have the same specific resistance coefficient Ca if they are run at the same values of the parameter V:/gL. William Froude recognized the necessity of dividing the resistance up into separate components. Based on t h e general law of mechanical similitude first enunciated by Newton, and from experiments on models of the same form but of different sizes, .and observations of their wave patterns, Froude stated his Law of Comparison in the following terms : "The resistance of geometrically similar ships is in the ratio of the cube of their linear dimensions if their speeds are in the ratio of the square roots of their linear dimensions." Such speeds he called'"corresponding speeds." I t will be noted t h a t these corresponding speeds infer that v/V/-l must be the same for model and ship, which is the same condition a s expressed. in (4).

FUNDAMENTALS T h e residuary resistances of ship ( R R ) a n d model (re) from (4) will be in the ratio*
Re re 0SV2Cn 1/~psv2 Cn

OF SHIP MODEL TESTING of

855

If we assmne both are run in the~ same fluid, so t h a t p is the same for both, and at the same value of V 2 / g L as required b y (4), i.e., V 2 / g L = v~/gl, then Ce will be t h e s a m e for each and"
Re
re.

SV 2
SV 2

L2
l2

L
l

L~
13

A
6

(5)

where A and ~ are the displacements of ship and model respectively. This is i n agreement with Froude's Law of Comparison quoted above. Note from equation (5) t h a t at corresponding speeds . . . .
RelaX. = rel~

sponding speeds so l o n g as the fluid remains in contact with the model "and ship' surfaces. .When the pressure approaches very low values, however, such t h a t separatlon of flow m a y occur, the similarity conditions will no longer be fulfilled. Since the absolute pressure will be greater in the model than in the ship, the former will give no warning of such behavior. For 'this reason, special facilities such as variable' pressure water tunnels have been devised for tests in which this danger is known to be present. We are now left with the first t e r m of equation (3). This involves the fluid viscosity and has special reference to the frictional resistance. Denoting the frictional-resistance b y the suffix F we can write
Ci, oSV 2 f2 _ -

(7)

-- (6) and the value of "CF will be the same for. modM and ship provided t h a t '~the p a r a m e t e r V L / v is the same, If both model and ship. are r u n in water at about the same temperature, so t h a t v has t h e s a m e value, this reduces to :[
VL = vl

i.e., the pounds per ton resistance is the same for model and ship. T a y l o r made use of this in presenting his contours of residuary resistance. I t will be seen t h a t the "corresponding speed" for a small model is much lower t h a n t h a t of the parent ship. Thus, if we build 'a-20-foot model of a 500-foot ship (linear s c a l e r a t i o = 25), the model speed corresponding to 25 knots for the ship is 5knots, i.e., 25/w/x. "~ This is a singularly fortunate circumstance, since it enables ship models to be built to reasonable scales and run at speeds in the basin which are easily attainable. Return to equation (3) and consider the last t e r m P / p V 2. If we neglect the super-incumbent atmospheric pressure, and refer P only to the water head, then for corresponding points in the model-ship pattern _P will v a r y with the linear scale ratio. At corresponding .speeds V 2. also varies in the same way, s o t h a t I~/.oV 2 will be the same in model and ship for ~the same fluid. In practice, the atmospheric pressure is the same in model and ship tests, and when this is included in th e problem, the value of P / o V 2 at corresponding points will be much greater for model than for ship. F r o m time to time consideration has been given to the construction of a model basin or circulating channel in which the atmospheric pressure could be reduced to scale. Up till now the formidable instrumentation problems and the cost have prevented a n y action in the matter. F o r t u nately, most of the hydrodynamic forces we are eorrCerned with arise from differences in pressure, a n d these will be proportional to V 2, so t h a t this parameter P / o V 2 will ,be taken care of at eorre* C a p i t a l l e t t e r s r e f e r t o ship, s m a l l l e t t e r s t o m o d e l .

This condition is a very different proposition from the condition for, wave:making resistance. As the m o d e l is made smaller, t h e speed Of test m u s t increase. In the case already used as illustration, the 20-foot model of . a 500-footl 25-knot ship would have to be run at 625, knots. I t is thus obvious t h a t in model testing we cannot satisfy both the conditions o f mechanical similitude in a single t e s t . Where one t y p e of resistance is absent, ..as in deeply submerged bodies such as torpedoes o r silbmarines with no. wave making, we can run a t higher speeds than the "co~esponding" ones, so as to increase the model v l / v to as high a.value as possible, so reducing the range of extrapolatio n to the ship value. I t might be possible to overcome this difficulty b y using a different fluid, so t h a t v would take account of th e ,differences i n the V L product. In .the above ex.ample, in order to run the model at the correct wavemaking c0~esponding speed, and .yet keep the value of V L / v the same for both model a:nd ship, a fluid would have to be fdund for use width the model having a kinematic viscosity coefficient only ~ 25 that. of water, Which .cannot be realized. I n wind tunnel work, this artifice can be used to a considerable extent b y using compresSed air in the model tests and so decreasing v and increasing V L / v for a given value of the product
VL. ,

The only

practical

method

of overcoming

856

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL parison :

TESTING

this fundamental difficulty in the' use of ship models is to separate the frictional from the wavemaking resistance and deal with them separately. We thus write
Cr = CR + G~.

V=vXX

Froude recognized this necessity and so made ship model testing a practical tool in the hands of the naval architect. H e realized t h a t the skin friction and residuary resistances did not obey the same law, although he was unaware Of the relationship stated b y equation (7), which followed essentially from the work of Osborne Reynolds published in 1883 [14], for which reason the product V L / u is referred to universally as Reynolds number. Froude, knowing the law governing the wavemaking resistance, set a b o u t to discover t h a t for skin friction resistance in his characteristically thorough way. He undertook a basic investigation into the skin friction resistance of smooth planks, running a series, varying in. length from 2 feet to 50 feet, up to speeds of 600 feet per minute [15]. As a result, he deduced a law for the resistance of a smooth flat surface in the form
Re = f S V "

(6) The sl~in friction resistance of the ship ( = Re) is now calculated on the same assumption as used in (3). (7) The total ship resistance is now found b y addition :
RT = Rv -b RR

(S)"

where f is a coefficient which varied with t y p e of surface and its length, decreasing as the latter increased and n is an index which varied with t y p e of surface, being a b o u t 1.825 for varnished surfaces and 2.0 for rough calico. To extend the model results to the ship he proposed the method which is still in use today. As this is " f u n d a m e n t a l " to the p r o b l e m of ship-model testing, t h e subject of this paper, it m a y be permissible to state it at length :. (1) T h e model is made to a linear scale ratio of ~, and run a t the "corresPonding speed" such t h a t V/x/'L = v/w/-l. ( 2 ) The total model ;resistance is measured

(= rT).
(3) The skin friction resistance of the model ( = rF) is calculated, assuming it to be the same as t h a t of a smooth fiat plank of the same length and total surface as the model. (4) The. residuary resistance of. the model ( = rR) is now found b y subtraction :
rR ~ rT -re

(5) T h e residuary r e s i s t a n c e of the ship ( = RR) is now calculated b y the law of comparison :
R R = rR X k~

This, of course, will a p p l y to the ship a t the "corresponding" speed given b y the law of corn-

The calculation of re was made b y F r o u d e from his plank tests data. To calculate RF he had to extrapolate his plank coefficients to lengths and speeds far in excess of those attained in his experiments. H e gave such coefficients for long lengths, b u t it is not known "exactly how he arrived at them~ I t appears t h a t he made some allowance in the process for the rougher surface of the ship as compared with t h a t of his varnished planks, and his coefficients ' have stood the test of time and of 'practical use so well t h a t they are still the basis of all ship resistance estimates rnade in the B r i t i s h and European model basins. T h e American method is essentially the same as t h a t detailed in the foregoing, except t h a t a different friction formulation is used. I n 1932 Schoenherr published a new chart of friction coefficients for smooth, flat planes, in which he showed all the reliable data then in existence [16]. Such a chart is reproduced in Fig. 3. The spots include those from F r o u d e ' s planks, from new tests run b y Schoenherr, and from the results of a number of other tests both in air and in water. Froude's r e s u l t s - w e n t up to a Reynolds n u m b e r of about 4 X 10 r, while those for an 80-foot plank run at the Experimental Model Basin at Washington extended t h e r a n g e to just over 10 s. K e m p f had run tests at H a m burg with a pontoon some 252 feet in length, in which a p a n e l was inserted at different distances from the leading edge and the local resistance thus measured. By integrating these local coefficients the resistance of the smooth surface could be obtained for different lengths up to the maximum. T h i s enabled the values of Ce to be calculated up to a Reynolds number of 4.5 X 10 s (see Fig. 3): This chart shows t h a t at Reynolds numbers below a b o u t 5 X 10 e m a n y of the spots" begin to fall a w a y below the general level as speed is decreased. This is due to the fact t h a t at low speeds much of the surface is in a region of laminar flow. For complete laminar flow, the values of Cv for a smooth plank have been ealcu|ated b y Blasius to lie on the lower line shown to the left of Fig. 3. I n this region and with this type

Zahm-2'Plank anc116'Paper Plane in Air. + W. Froude-Nafional Tank-3:8:16'PIonks o Gebers Uebigau-60,160,360,460,652 cm. Pla nks O.007 0.00(

e Gebers Vienna- 125,250 500 750,1000 era.Planks Kempf-50,T5 cm.Plonks ' Froude-16',25',50' P l a n k s "

lUl
O~io o o

o.oo,

o.oo,.
"5 0.002 0.002

o ~o
li ,

&e.e o o ~1

0.242

.....

o.,o

wf i/Froude-28'

: og,~ (Rq)
Froude-50'

o
O e

8,
.0

"1
O.O0.l IOs .2 3.4 ,5 6 7 8 9 106 2 3 " ME Reynolds Number-~-4 5 6 7 8 9 107 2
" "

.3

oo

* "U S EM B 20:50:40:80' Planks USEMB 3',6' Planks, Smoofh o USEMB 3',6'PlanksForcedTurloulence . , :

~ .

Gibbons-9~' Glass Plates in Air e Wieselsberger-50;100,150,200cm.VarntshedCIofhPlanesmAir o Kempf Measured Local Resisfance lnfegrafed (Waxed Surface) Ouofecl in Report "
.

1 I I 0 007
o.ooo

".
'

. 0.005 DT ~

I _ I I i I I I . . . . . . . . . I I I I I I I I

0.oo,
1,0 .003

I " I ~ "-~."

I _ "

,Froude-lO0' . "

I ----gFroude-200'

C~

8 9 108

~.

45 6 7 8 9 109 Reynolds Number :vL -~

9 10I

FIG. 3.--SCH()ENHERR LINE, TOGE'rHBR WITH CF LINES DBmV~D FROM FROUD~'S Qs V6 LUBs
OO

g .2

858

F U N D A M E N T A L S OF S H I P M O D E L T E S T I N G . 1000-Foot Stiip at 30 Knots Model Model length, speed, VL/p at ft ft/see 59 degrees F 20 7.17 11.7 X 10' 16 6.40 8.30 X 106 8 4.53 3.00 X 10~ 4 3.20 1..05 X 10~

of flow, the resistance varies as V ~.5. As speed is increased on a plank of given length, turbulent flow begins toward the after end and gradually spreads forward and as the, resistance in the turbulent flow varies as a higher power of V, around 1.825; the resistance ~ufve rises toward an upper limit, which is defined as the specific resistance curve for smooth surfaces in turbulent flow. B y artificially stimulating turbulence, using a strut ahead of the plank or a sand strip up the leading edges, even the small planks at low speeds can be run in the fully, turbulent condition, in which case the Cr values plot on the higher or turbulent curve. Cv .values fallin'g between the upper and lower curves are said to be those for transition flow. Strictly, unless turbulence is artificially stin/ulated, there will be some zone of .laminar flow' a t . the leading edges of all the p l a n k s . However, as the length of plank and speed are increased, giving higher and higher Reynolds numbers, the area in laminar flow grows smaller and smaller and it~ effect on resis.tanee less and less. For unstimulated planks, the approach of the resistance curve to the smooth turbulent lifle is really as)~mptotic. ' Schoenherr made a statistical survey of the available experimental"data; weighted with respect to known experimental defects, and drew the mean line s h o w n in Fig. 3 as representing the best curve for the friction of a smooth surface in turbulent flow. The formula for this mean line is 0.242/~/~FF '----log,0 (nOR) (9)

Scale 1/5o 1/62.5 1/125 1/25o

" R being Reynolds number. Using this formula, the friction line can be extended to 'higher R.eynolds numbers. I t is interesting to note thht-whereas: the value of Reynolds number for fl I~00()-foot ship at .35 knots is 4.5 X. 109, thehighest ~)alue of R ol~tained in any plank experiments is only 4.5 X l0 s, so t h a t this represents a t e n f o l d extrapolation, a fact which is not always realized when using logarithmic p'~ots. At the other end of the range, the values of the Reynolds number for models can be judged from the following examples : " 400-Foot.Ship at 10 Knots Model Model length, speed, VL/v at ft ft/see 59 degrees F 30 4.65 11.38 X 106 25 .4.22 .8.60 X 106 20 3.78 6.15 X 106 16 3.38 4.40 X 106 8 2.38 1.55 X 10~ 4 1 69 0.55 X 106

If we assume that a Reynolds number of 107 is required in order to be reasonably free from transition effects, when no turbulence stimulating device i s used, it will be seen that for the 4O0-foot, 10-knot ship a model 30 feet in length is necessary, whereas for the 1,000-foot ship at 30 knots, a 20-foot model would be adequate: However, as will be seen when discussing resistance tests, other factors also enter into the problerh of. laminar and turbulent flow regimes on models. I n calculating the ship resistance from that of the model b y - t h e United States practice, the same division into frictional and residuary resistance is observed. The American Towing Tank Conference in 1947 agreed to adopt the Schoenherr mean line for calculating both the model and ship. skin friction resistance. The values of Cp for a wide range of Reynolds numbers have been calculated b y Mr. Gertler of the David Taylor Model Basin, and published in Report No. 576, which also describes the calculation of the ship effective horsepower from the model results in full detail. Having described the fundamental basis of ship model testing, we can now see how it is applied in practice and what new problems we m a y then meet. RESISTANCE EXPERIMI~NTS Model resistance experiments are carried out by towing a model in a long basin either b y means of an independently driven carriage spanning the basin or" b y means of an endless cord and a weight. The latter gravity type is at present restricted to models up to about 8 feet in length, although larger tanks h a v e ' b e e n built before using this method. Fig. 4 shows a view of one of the large basins at The D a v i d Taylor Model Basin. There are virtually four such basins and carriages, the newest of the latter being capable of a top speed of 60 knots. For resistance experiments in the larger basins the models are made of wood or wax, finished to a smooth surface (Figs. 5 and 6). T h e y v a r y in length from 12 feet to 30 feet, the majority being about 20 feet. The choice of length is governed by several considerations. The

Scale 1/13.33 1/16 1/20 1/25 1/50 1/100

>

>.
Oq

:Z

00 FIG. 4G--GENERAL VIEW OF INTERIOR OF BASIN BUILDING, LOOKING FROM TURNING BASIN ENCLOSURE

860

FUNDAMENTALS

OF S H I P M O D E L

TESTING

In certain high-speed models, care m u s t also be taken to avoid the critical speed in the basin. This latter is due to the formation of a wave of translation in the basin, and its speed is given approximately b y
v2 = gh

(10)

FIG. 5 . - - W A x MODEL BEING CUT

larger the model, the more accurately can it be made and the larger are the forces to be measured, both features leading to greater accuracy in the resultant measurement of resistance. However, the bigger the model the more expensive it is to build and handle, and some compromise m u s t be reached, generally on other grounds. F r o m what has been said in the foregoing, it is obvious t h a t without turbulence stimulation small models are likely to suffer from transitional flow and so m a y give quite misleading results. The satisfactory stimulation of turbulence is in itself not an easy feat, and it is therefore preferable to make a model big enough to be reasonably beyond the transition range. An examination of Fig. 3 suggests t h a t the Reynolds number should certainly not be less than 10? for this purpose. Reference to the figures in the preceding section shows t h a t this means for a 400-foot, 10-knot ship the model should be nearly 30 feet in length, while for a 1,000-foot, 30-knot ship, 20 feet would suffice. T h e size of model is also controlled b y t h a t of the available facilities. If the model is made too large, interference will be felt from the walls and b o t t o m of the basin, with resultant inaccuracies in the measurement of resistance. Broadly speaking, the model should not have a length greater t h a n the depth of water or than half the breadth of the basin, in order to avoid interference with the wave resistance. The midship area of the model should not exceed about ~00 of the cross-section area of the basin in order to avoid setting up appreciable return flow in the water. However, in cases where wave making is not important, larger models can be used and corrections made for interference effects.

where v is in feet per second and h is the depth of water in feet. A model run at a n y speed above about 0.7 of this speed will begin to give a resistance greater than t h a t appropriate to deep water. If self-propelled model experiments are to follow the resistance tests, as is usual, the size of the model propellers has also to be considered when choosing the scale. The latter should be sufficiently large for accuracy of manufacture, to avoid serious scale effect as compared with the ship screws and to enable accurate measurements of thrust and torque to be made during the tests. I t is not yet possible to set down a n y absolute rule as to the minimum size of propellers to avoid scale effect (the International Towing T a n k Conference has a committee considering this subject) but if possible for the other reasons they should not be less than 6 inches in diameter and preferably 9 to 12 inches. In order to reach such figures in the case of large four-screw models, the latter m a y have to be as much as 30 feet in length. The model when completed is ballasted and trimmed to the required displacement and waterline, and attached to the resistance d y n a m o m e t e r of the towing carriage. The latter is a floating beam (Fig. 7), the fore and aft motion of which is controlled b y vertical flexure springs, and the motion of which is transmitted through a balance to a stylus recording on waxed paper. The mo-

FIG. 6.--FINIStlED WAX MODEL ON ]~IANDLINGFRAMtE

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHIP MODEL TESTING

Time Pen ~ = ~

861

h To Drive ~ W h e e i ~ ~ F ~ ~L=~2_//I~11 S, 90 Knife o

Roller P i v o t .
'

Ele tro-Mo oet: :=::

i . DynomomeferGirder.(~ ' ,. ~ " ~J~. '. ( / ~ ~ I~/ \~/ .

E'ddy-Cur e
~U.<-----Domper Plaf~ _~. Couner~weighl .for ;-:Flob'fingBeam~: "" " ' . , ; " . ,, .

/ S c a l e Po ~ Stop II II ,, .

E ge

~ /I l'l ,/..~Limi-lL-------~t--g,,b-,~l .

Trw, Ye
Wf r e s "_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_~

L{
c-Ballast "

I/

Towi4Li
. . . . ,- ,..
'

'

\ b-To o
'-,Tp@ing
'

" ~ [ : ' I -~---------, ,_1 ,~ ~ L ~ - - - L i m f

' F,

Sto p

~1

W.L~ _ z ~ _ ~ . B o

I last We ighf, ~ Pos*

.

D i r e c t i o n o~ M o t i o n >
FIG. 7.--SCHEMATIC r ARRANGEMENT . " OF ;rOWING

DYNAMOMETER

tion of t h e beam and the model is damped by M a n y forms of stimulation have been:"used an e d d y current damper. The model is free to "at the Model Basin; 'strutsl ahead of the model, take up any sinkage, rise or trim wliich m a y sand strips down each side of t h e bow and. along be dictated by the water forces~ but-is 'controlled the water line, and trip wires at ]/20 L from by guides from any yawing motion. the bow, to mention a few. At the p r e s e n t On any give n test, thh carriage is run a t the. time the struts seem to give the most consistent desired speed and records taken of speed, re- ' . r e s u l t s . The European and British basins are' sistance-and trim of the model (Fig. 8). The using a trip wire 0.036 ineh.:in diameter wrapped speed "must b e maintained constant wRhin fine closely around a section ,of the m o d e l ]/20 L limits (of the order of 1~ of one per cent) since from.the stem. the dm.g of the model m a y b e of the o r d e r of A truly scientific solution of the problem will only ]/600 of the:displacement, so that any change not be attained until we know more of. the of speed of the carriage will result in excessive mechanism of stimulation, and of what We pendulum oscillations of the model. For this do to the flow when we artificially incite reason extrein~ care must b e taken in laying turbulence. T o this end the Model .Basin has and aligning the rails on Which the carriage developed hot-wire velocity meters, i n hheil f o r m runs, and in the electrical control of the carriage of probes which can be used to distinguish' bespeed. I t is bee9ming usual now to have elec- tween l a m i n a r a n d turbule~tflow in the bound.ary tronic control of the speed., . layer. In the meantime a n empirical :solution For any given test' condition of a model, a is being sought This has .,brought some 'interl' number of tests are made at different .speeds, esting features of the p r o b l e m " t o light J, For V and a curve of :resistance against speed obtained. example, stimulation shows no effect in' 20-foot I t is the practice at the .Taylor Model Basin models of forlns such. as those of high-speed-warto r u n t e s t s with and without turbulence stimu- ships and merchant ships of block coefficient lation. For many years the n e e d for this has 0.65 and below In the .fuller type of merchant been recognized in the case of small models. ship, the effect of stimulation appears to depend However, it was not so well accepted that even to a considerable extent upon t h e - t y p e 'of bow; 25-foot models of certain kinds may need it also. a heavily raked stem "and pronounced V-sections In the last four or five years there has been a great seem to favor the persistence of laminar' flow, deal of work done on. the subject.. To show the while a verical stem and U-type sections, seem magnitude of the problem, the results of some to-be relatively immune to its effects. -Intensi.ve turbulence stimulation tests on models of the research into this subject is going on in m a n y . " " L i b e r t y " Ship are shown in .Fig. 9. A t the model basins today, and the resistance curve service_speed_the s p r e a d in resistance_.~et_ween obtained with stimulation is used for the preth6 h_~e_d model without_stifimulation a n d _ the diction of ship resistance. The actual :steps highesL resis't an ce_obt~with_st_imulatio___nn is in this prediction have been fully set out by Mr. of the_order of 20 peLrcent. Gertler of the Model Basin staff [17]. The break-

862

F U N D A b I E N T A L S OF SHIP 3IODEL TESTING

FIG. 8.

~TOWING ~'IODEL UNDER TEST AT D T M B

DEEP WATER BASIN

FUNDAiX'IENTALS
. 1.5

OF

SHIP

M-ODEL

TESTING

865

1.4 1.3
1.2 I.I

I" wide S~r{'~'Sfri 3s at W.L.and S~em 2 I" Drill Rod a t O.05XL F w d . o f S t e m Iro- Rod included 20 Fwd.from Verfical 0.0276" Trip Wire af 0.05 XL A f t of Stem
......... - Bare Hull

o l.0
0.9

i#
.'
to
s"

O.8

0.7
0.6

. j r - - ,__..__~.I....~,

../

0.5 OAO

0.15

Froude Nun~ber

0.20

0.25

FIG, 9 . - - . 4 0 0 FT. ~ ) CURVES FOR A TYPICAL FULL CARGO SHIP h~ODEL

4
r,r
Ir

t..)

o_ .u_.
01

I-

,3
0) u C

0) cr

0 5

i07
-

108
~=

2
VL

l0 g ,

Reynolds Number,

FIG. 10,--COMPARISON OF RESISTANCE COEPFICIENTS FOR MODEL AND FULL-SCALE VESSEL

864

FUNDAMENTA]~S OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

~. _.

down into frictional and residuary resistance cients for different lengths of ship, and it will is done on coefficient form, and is well illustrated b e s e e n t h a t the 0.0004 line is a very good mean by Fig. 10, taken from Mr. Gertler's paper. of the Froude values. H a v i n g obtained the T h e smooth turbulent curve for flat planes m a y final Cr curve for the ship with this added allowbe taken as applying exactly to the model surface, ance for roughness, the" effective h.orsepower with its v e r y smooth finish, except for any effect curve m a y be drawn. All calculations for effective horsepower are due to curvature. This latter has been investigated b y Mr. La'ndweber [18] who has found now standardized to a t e m p e r a t u r e of 59 detheoretically t h a t the curvature correction f a c t o r grees F. m a y be expected to be a b o u t 1.032 for a small FLOW TESTS 4-foot model and about 1.005 for a large 20-foot model, the curved surface .having the larger Foilowing the resistance experiments, it is usual resistance. F o r a 20-foot model this correction to conduct flow tests to determine the correct pois negligible. sitioning of the various appendages, such as bilge The addition of the CR for model to the CF keels, bossings, .etc." This m a y be done in the for ship a t the correct Reynolds number for towing basin. The area of-the model concerned the latter will give the curve of Cr for a smooth is painted with a white lead-paint and sulphide is ship. I t is necessary to make some allowances ejected from tiny holes during the course of a run. for the added resistance due to the roughness T h e resulting black streaks show t h e streamline of the real ship surface, this addition being desig- pattern from which the best position for an apnated b y ~Cy (Fig. 10). This allowance will pendage m a y be determined (Fig. 11). When a more detailed investigation of the flow v a r y from ship to ship, according to the t y p e of surface, riveted or welded, the kind of paint is desired, say over the whole run of the model, it used and its condition and the state of fouling can be placed in the "Circulating W a t e r Channel of the b o t t o m at a n y particular time. I t can for b o t h visual and p h o t o g r a p h i c observation.only be obtained from the results of measure- The channel has a measuring section some 60 feet ments on full-scale ships. These should prefer- long and 20 feet wide, through which water can be pumped at speeds up to 10 knots and depths up to ably be resistance experiments without the added effect of the ships own propellers, carried out 9 feet. - A section of the channel is shown in Fig. either b y towing the ship, as in Froude's experi- 12 and a photograph of it operating in Fig. 13. m e n t s with the Greyhound, or b y propelling the There are numerous ports in the b o t t o m and sides ship b y aircraft engines as in the verjr recent for observation purposes. The flow m a y be made experiments on the Clyde with the Lucy Ashton. visible b y ejecting dye from holes in the model, or These are rare instances, however, and we m u s t b y the use of tufts of Wool secured to pins set norin general rely o n the results of ordinary full- real to the model surface (Fig. 14). This latter scale trials to find the roughness allowance. method enables the flow to be explored at points This is most readily done "when propeller thrusts a w a y from the hull, which is often necessary and are measured, as this enables A.C~. to be found always interesting: Experimen]:s have been made with the least n u m b e r ' of assumptions. Values in this way with different colored wools set at difof this roughness coefficient for a n u m b e r of ferent, definite distances from the hull, the flow United States warshit~ s have shown t h a t it m a y p a t t e r n being r e c o r d e d b y color photography. v a r y from 0.001 to 0.0010 according to the surface This method of experiment is v e r y useful in deterfinish [19]. The " s m o o t h " 'value of Cv for the mining the correct angles for skegs and bossings, Reynolds numbers'concerned varies from 0.0016 and for observing separation over the stern of very to 0.0012, or an average of 0.0014. T h e ACF full models. Alterations can be made to the t h e r e f o r e c0rresponds-to an increase in frictional model and appendages, and the change, and we resistance of from 7 par cent to 70 per cent, wh!ch hope improvement, in flow made clearly visible. shows vividly the price which m a y be paid for When more accurate delineation of the flow is rerunning a ship with a i~oor paint or.fouled sur- quired, pitot tube surveys can be carried out, usually in the towing basin, where conditions are face. At the time the American Towing T a n k Conference adopted the Sehoenherr line for steadier. These give both the speed and direction ship estimates, it also agreed to use a tentative value of flow and. enable the stream flow pattern to be of 0.0004 for ACF for clean, new vessels, and' it represented and a choice of appendage shape and appears as though t h i s is a reasonable figure position made in order to keep the added resistin the light of our present knowledge. The line ance to a rr/inimum. Pitot tube surveys over the showing this standard allowance is drawn o.n position to be occupied b y the propeller disc enFig. 3, where are shown also the Froude eoeffi- able more accurate calculations to be made of the

>

>
O0

~q

FIG. II.---~TRBAMLINt~D TRACE FOR LOCATING BILGE it[EEL8

Oh

.866

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL
'

TESTING
Electric Motor

~"'"~:";.!~:i"

__~To Exhousfer
,'""'i " " ~

~--Vree WaferSurface Begins Here

Adjustable" | ,Viewing Windows "

\
~

~ , f Oil Heed.
Cedoe for

[~

~~..V-L-..~---.:.~..'.-.:~I

F~ J- ~ .

~
II

II

~--18'-0'-'-~] I.~L~ -Throat Rin 9 II II m,'J~i "/ I 12"0"I.D.

FIG. ]2--VERTICAL LONGITUDINAL SECTION THROUGH T M B WATER CIIANNEL

pitch distribution required on the screw, and also indicate a n y a r e a s of high and rapidly changing wake which m a y result in vibration in the ship unless corrected b y altering appendages, clearances, rake of blades or other means. I~ROPUSION EXPERIMENTS Model propeller experiments were first made b y William Froude at Torqua~z.around 1873.. T o d a y they are carried out on almost every model tested at the T a y l o r Model Basin. The purpose of such tests is threefold; to ensure t h a t the hull form is the best from the point of view of over-all efficieney (this m a y or m a y not be the form of least resistance), to determine the best design of propeller to suii: the particular design requirements and flow distribution behind the hull, and to de: termine the total, shaft horsepower. For such experiments, the model propeller is made to scale to a high degree of accuracy, tolerances of 0.002 inch being insisted on. As already statedi "the diameter is kept above 6 inches whenever possible, and around g inches to 12 inches when convenient, in order to ensure accuracy. This is an i m p o r t a n t factor in the choice of model scale. The model is fitted with a stern tube, rudder and bilge keels, and the propeller shaft is driven from-inboard b y an electric m o t o r . Also in the shafting line are d y n a m o m e t e r s for measuring thrust, torque and revolutions (Fig. 15). These measure the thrust and torque b y pendulum weights, the displacement of which operates an optical system so t h a t a beam of light travels over an appropriate scale. T h e revolution counter is tripped in and out at the beginning and end of 101.33 feet run down the basin. The time is also recorded for this travel, so t h a t both speed o f advance and revolutions per minute can be determined.

More recently recording electronic d y n a m o m e ters have been developed, one of which is now in use (Fig. 16). T h e shaft' line is divided at the thrust-measuring point, and the thrust measured b y the deflection of very accurately made cantilevers as indicated b y strain gages. Similar cantilevers measure the reaction of the m o t o r casing and so measure t h e torque. The signals from these strain gages are recorded on a paper roll, together with simultaneous" records of time, distance and revolutions (Fig. 17). These recording d y n a m o m e t e r s have the advantage t h a t a perma-nent record of all tests is obtained for future analysis with the other type only the observer's notes remain. Moreover, the fluctuations of thrust and torque are visible on the record and a true mean value can be obtained with the light beam type; the observer has to judge the mean .value during the run as the b e a m oscillates along the scale. With multi-screw models, the new t y p e also enables savings to be made in man power, as all records can be .brought to a common recording point. T h e recording types are, however, m u c h more costly and take up a great deal of room on the carriage and are much more complicated as regards the recording side. When the model has been fitted up for propulsion tests it is weighed and then put in the water and ballasted to the correct displacement and trim,. I t is then attached t o t h e c a r r i a g e d y n a m o m eter in exactly the same way as for the resistance . tests. Power for the motors in the model are supplied from a motor-generator on the carriage and the operator can control the propeller revolutions as desired. Owing to the difference between the specific frictional resistance coefficient CF for ship and model, the Cr for model at a n y desired speed is considerably greater than t h a t for the ship a t the

-.

i:

~Z ;> ~Z >
00

=2

U0

0O FIG. 1 3 . - - G E N E R A L VI]~W OF CIRCULATING WATER CHANNEL, LOOKING UPSTRI~AM

868

FUNDAMENTALS

OF S H I P M O D E L T E S T I N G

FIG. 14.--FLOW OVER STt~RN OF MODEL AS OBSERVED IN THE CIRCULATING WATER CHANNEL

corresponding speed (Fig. 18). If the model were propelled entirely b y its own propeller, therefore, the latter would be considerably overloaded as compared with its prototype. An additional towing force is therefore applied to the model b y means of weights on one of the pans of the resistance dynamometer, so as to balance this difference in skin friction resistance. I n practice, this towing force also takes into account the desired ACF value for the ship in question. In this way various service conditions can be represented on the model, such as a clean ship with smooth paint, one with plastic paint, or a vessel with a n y degree of fouling. Normally the standard value of 0.004 is used. The correction, in coefficient form, is therefore given b y
CF t =

CF(model)

- -

(CF(ship) +

ACF)

(11)

This is calculated for the required range of speeds before the tests and is expressed in pounds. The self-propulsion tests consist of a number of runs down the basin, each at a fixed speed, arranged to cover the desired range. Before a par-

ticular run, the appropriate C r ' weight is placed on the d y n a m o m e t e r pan and after the carriage has reached its steady required speed, the operator on the carriage adjusts the propeller revolutions until the stylus on the resistance drum records zero, i.e., until the propeller thrust and the C / weight together equal the resistance of the model with propeller working. H e then closes a switch, and an automatic record is taken of time and revolutions over a distance of 101.33 feet. The thrust and torque are also obtained either b y observation or recording. The propeller is also run in "open" water; t h a t is, without any hull in front of it. This is done using a propeller boat or similar d y n a m o m e t e r in which the propeller is carried well ahead of the boat on a long shaft. Thrust, torque and efficiency are measured under these open conditions, with uniform flow into the propeller, and when plotted in coefficient form give the "characteristic" curves for t h a t particular wheel. The self-propelled results provide curves of shaft-horsepower and revolutions per minute to a

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP

MODEL

TESTING

869

FIG. 15.--SELF-PROPULSION DYNAMOMETER FOR SHIPS DRIVEN BY THEIR OWN PROPI~LLERS

b a s e of ship s p e e d (Fig. 19). T h e r a t i o of effect i v e h o r s e p o w e r to s h a f t h o r s e p o w e r gives t h e p r o p u l s i v e coefficient. C o m p a r i s o n of t h r u s t a n d r e s i s t a n c e gives t h e t h r u s t d e d u c t i o n coefficient. T h e r a t i o of t h e speed of t h e m o d e l to t h e s p e e d of a d v a n c e of t h e p r o p e l l e r in o p e n w a t e r a t which i t delivers t h e s a m e t h r u s t a t t h e s a m e r e v o l u t i o n s gives t h e t h r u s t w a k e ; a s i m i l a r expression c a n be d e r i v e d for t o r q u e wake. T h e p r o p e l l e r gives s l i g h t l y different efficieneies w h e n w o r k i n g b e h i n d t h e m o d e l a n d w h e n r u n n i n g in open w a t e r , a n d t h e r a t i o of these effieieneies gives t h e r e l a t i v e rot a t i v e efficiency. T h e p r o p u l s i v e efficiency is t h e n m a d e u p of t h e p r o d u c t P.C.
=

where
n0 = p r o p e l l e r e f f i c i e n c y in o p e n

nr t R T w

= relative rotative efficiency = thrust deduction coefficient

= 1 -- (R/T)

= resistance of towed model at speed V = propeller thrust at speed V = Taylor wake fraction
= (vvA)/v

va = speed of advance of propeller in open to give same thrust at same revolutions as when propelling model at speed V T h e f r a c t i o n s t a n d w a r e e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t in a n y a n a l y s i s of p r o p u l s i v e efficiency a n d in a n y p r o p e l l e r design p r o b l e m . T h e y d e p e n d u p o n m a n y factors, i n c l u d i n g t h e fullness of t h e model, t h e s h a p e of t h e stern sections, t h e d i a m e t e r a n d p o s i t i o n of t h e propeller, t h e c l e a r a n c e s b e t w e e n

1-t no 1- ~

n,

(12)

870

F U N D A , M E N T A L S OF S H I P , \ I O D E L T E S T I N G

FIG. 16

ELECTRONIC TYPE SELF PROPL'-LSION DYNAMOMETER

propeller and hull, rudder and other appendages and upon the thickness and shape of rudder. I t is common practice to choose a propeller from stock which fits design conditions as nearly as possible, and run this with a new hull to obtain the value of these different elements of the propulsive efficiency. The final design of the propeller for the new ship can then be carried out with a great deal more certainty, the model made, and the final self-propulsion tests run. The wake fraction, thrust deduction and other quantities are all presented in the form of curves to a base of speed (Fig. 19). Comparison of these values with those for similar models in the records enables the quality of performance of any new design to be judged, and indicates the lines along which any possible improvement m a y be sought. This m a y entail redesign of the stern sections or of the rudder, appendages and other features.
S T E E R I N G AND .~IANEUVERING EXPERI.~[ENTS

The steering and maneuvering characteristics of ships can also be studied conveniently by means of models. These features are particularly important in the case of warships, for tactical purposes, and in ferries and similar types of ships which must do much maneuvering in port. Generally, the qualities of ease in maneuvering and good course keeping a t sea are to some extent incom-

patible. The provision of deadwood aft, for example, gives good directional stability and coursekeeping, but for this very reason makes the vessel difficult to bring off course and therefore less maneuverable. These characteristics also depend on the general proportions of the ship; short, wide, shallow draft vessels usually turn quickly, but wilt not steer a straight course and require the continual use of rudder under such conditions. The best compromise as regards amounts of deadwood, size and position of rudder, shape of stern and so on can be studied easily and cheaply by model experiments, in which many of the full-scale maneuvering requirements for the ship can be reproduced. I n prewar days the H a m b u r g Tank possessed a steering pond some 200 feet in diameter, connected by a canal with the main basin. Self-propelled models up to 30 feet in length were used, complete with a gasoline-driven generator and motors. A crew of two operated the model, one controlling the generator and camera recorders, the other the propeller revolutions and rudder angles. The course of the model was recorded on a camera film which, b y an ingenious system of prisms, took simultaneous pictures along three different orthogonal axes, in each of which appeared a white rod on the model against characteristic markings around the circumference of the pond. A square Steering pond is in use at Stevens Institute of

~.

..

.~. - %.

--:,

FUNDAMENTALS

OF

SHIP

MODEL

TESTING

871

4-'+-

II
I,I

-i--+|J -i---e+-ei i,

~6
iJ

4-+-

tl
II

L II
II
4-4--

-i.-r|l

1-W ii
ii

II

S.~ I

Inch-U:
| p

.4-t-- -4-4-

II II

V
II

4-4+

II
i i

15

-14-

II -I-44-+-

4--+-

.L.bs.:
-I-+-

J2 Inch-

ch-L'
-4-1-4"1--t--

-t-4-

"4-4--'1"+-

I
FIG. 17.--SAMPLE OF RECORD OBTAINED HY t~LECTRONIC SELF PROPULSION DYNAMOMETER

I: -+-

-+-

- -

872

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

II t.)

4-" c" 'U

0) O tD U
t-

tO rr

0 3

. I0 7

2 CF'

I0

Reynolds Number, ~R=VL 1)

F I G . 1 8 . - - D I ~ T E R M I N A T I O N OF V A L U B FOR S E L F - P R O P E L L E D M O D E L T E S T S

Technologyl while a half-circle added to the end of the wide basin at T h e D a v i d T a y l o r Model Basin, making a J-shape, enables half-turns to be carried out with all bdt the largest models (F,ig. 20). In such experiments t h e towing carriage is used to accelerate the model. As the carriage approaches t h e e n d of the run; the model is released and kept under radio.control while turning. In this way the rudder can b e p u t over to some predetermined angle at a desired time, and the model finally stopped and backed b y her own propellers. Instrumentation is being developed to extend the radio control so as to be able to carry out a n y maneuvers involving continual operation of propellers a n d rudders. T h e steering pond is normaUy in darkness during'such tests, and a plate in a camera high up in the roof is exposed throughout the test and records the course of the model b y . . . . flashing lights carried near b6w and stern. For large, models, The David T a y l o r Model Basin has used a near-by reservoir, the model carrying a one-man crew, and its course being plotted from shore stations.In addition to obtaining the tactical diameter, advance a n d so on, measurements can also be made of the lift, drag and t o r q u e forces on the rudder.

II 10, 90 ~ 80 jt
" -

~/ 8000
j 7000

9000

I'
J ~ H _ 2 .p
.

60!
40

5o

~i]
j i
F

i"
8i

SHP

i / ~-

/ I / / II
/

I I ~ooo

o
5000

4000

"r

~ o

70
oo

~q.~_~.

~'
_Wake Frdction-

,4+'
I
15 i 6

2000 L~

I true Sip ,~~ "Thru@f D'eduction

=,0000o
17 18 ~o~ <

0 O 7 8 9

I0

11 12 13 14 Speed in Knots

FIo. 19


C~

Oo FIG~ 20o--MANEUVt~RING TBST RIyN

874

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING
!

Numerous tactical trials of full-scale ships have been carried out and compared with the results of the. -corresponding-model tests. These indicate t h a t the turning circles of model and ship are subject to some scale effect amounting to perhaps 10 per cent, t h e ship circle being proportionately less than t h a t of the model. A study of this problem is being carried" on using models from 10 to 30 feet in lengtH', f o r comparison with ship results. In the past "full-scale checks have also been made of the torque in the rudder stock, b y measuring the pressures in the rams of the hydraulic steering gear. New techniques enable this to be measured directly: by strain gages on the stock. This is an i m p o r t a n t research~ for scale-effect on the actual rudders and control surfaces for surface ships and submarines is an i m p o r t a n t factor in deciding upon the shape and area of such features. Model control surfaces have been studied b o t h on ship models in water' and on larger models of the surfaces only in wind tunnels, where larger Reyno!ds numbers can be achieved. Theoretical-Work on the turning of ships has been increasingly "undertaken in recent years, notably b y Barillon and Brard in France and Davidson in this cou_ntry. " T h e equations of motion can be waZitten down and the coefficients obtained b y tests on models." B y simplifying the equations to a linear type, the paths can then be calculated. In this way the effect Of changes in hull shape, control surfaces, etc., can be investigated without carrying out actual turning experiments. The work is long, however, and moreover present indications are t h a t the linear equations are not sufficiently accurate f o r this purpose. The, calculations have been made m u c h easier b y the introducti0n'.of anak~gue computers. To obtain the coefficients, for a n y given design model experim e n t s . m u s t be made, and new techniques have been developed for this purpose. These includeexperimehts in Which the'model is attached to a rotating arm and the forces upon it measured at different radii from the center and with different drift angles b e t w e e n the center line of the model and the tangent to the path. Rotating arms of this t y p e exist at Stevens Institute and in Paris. Other procedures in use at Taylor Model. Basin include the use of an "oscillator:' in which the model is mounted on a strut from the towing carriage and made to oscillate in the horizontal plane as the carriage travels along the basin. T h e same techniques m a y be used for torpedo and submarine stabilit)/studies.

S E A W O R T H I N E S S EXPERIMENTS
I n the past, ship m6del testing has been confined largely to the i m p r o v e m e n t of hull form and

propulsion in smooth water, and too little attention has been paid to the behavior of ships in waves. This is partially explained by the inherent difficulties of testing models in really representative rough water conditions] M a n y model basins are equipped with wavemakers. T~aese are situated at one end, and either take the form of large flaps hinged at their lower edge or of plungers secured to a transverse girder spanning the basin, and moving up and down vertically. The length of the waves, and so their period, can be controlled b y varying the frequency of the wavemaker, while the height depends upon the stroke of the flap or plunger. T h e shape of wave. generated can be controlled to some extent b y the shape of the plunger or flap'. The exact shape, however, is not so i m p o r t a n t - - w h a t is i m p o r t a n t is t h a t a n y given wave shape, length and height can be repeated at will, so t h a t alternative designs of models can be run successively through exactly the same waves. I t is necessary to have a good beach at the opposite end to the w a v e m a k e r to absorb the waves, otherwise a system of standing waves will be set up which will last for a considerable time. There are m a n y difficulties involved in running models in waves. The forward motion of the model is no longer steady, but subject to surges, so t h a t if such tests are carried out in a basin equipped with a towing carriage, special towing devices m u s t be used to give the model the necessary freedom in the fore and aft direction as well a in pitch and heave. At H a m b u r g , for example, the model was constrained from y a w b y fore and aft horizontal tension wires, which were led over pulleys and carried upward and finally over two bicycle wheels mounted high above the carriage, and carrying eqiml weights on their free ends. This imposed no net fore and aft force on the model, but prevented it coming off course. On any given run the model propeller gave enough thrust to propel the model at approximately the same speed as the carriage. Over a given time period the distance run b y the carriage was measured, and also the a m o u n t the model had gained or lost, as shown b y the rotation of the bicycle wheels in the same time. In this way the net distance traveled was known and so the exact speed. The use of self-propelled models in this way is probably the most satisfactory method of conducting seaworthiness tests, b u t it is not perfect. The slowing down and speeding up of the propeller during pitching is not necessaril)r the same as in the ship, due to'differences in wake and in.the dynamic characteristics of the propelling machinery. The thrust therefore will not v a r y in exactly the same way. This method of testing is used from time to time at the Taylor Mode}Basin,

~q

~q

F~c. 21,-

~EA\VOR'I'ttINESS T E S T OF A MIODF.L IN Tilt',' 1 4 0 - F T . BAS~.X

876

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

the actual tests being carried out at the old Experimental Model Basin, since none of the new basins at Carderock capable of taking large self-propelled models is equipped with a wavemaker. For m a n y comparative tests on alternative designs, small models can be used with advantage. Since the behavior of the model in waves depends on wave shape and on pressure variations neither of which are affected to a first order.by viscosity, the scale effect question is not so important T h e models m u s t not be too small, however, or the effects of surface tension become important as regards the formation of spray and the breaking of bow waves. C o m p a r a t i v e resistance tests in waves with small models 5 to 7 feet in length.have accordingly been carried out at Stevens Institute, N e w p o r t News, Taylor Model Basin a n d - o t h e r establishments. T h e towing here is b y gravity, and as the towing weight is constant, this approximates to the condition of constant thrust, although some variation occurs because o.f acceleration forces caused b y model surges. The use o f these small models is very convenient; they are relatively cheap to build, alterations are quickly.made and due to the absence of a towing carriage they are easily observed visually and photographically. Tests in progress on such a model in the 140foot basin at T a y l o r Model Basin are shown in Fig. 22. T h e model is towed first in smooth water and the necessary towing weight found for the desired smooth water speed. Successive experiments are then made with the same towing weight (and therefore equivalent to approximately the same thrust in the ship) through a series of waves of different lengths and heights. On each run photographic and movie records are made of the waves and model against a grid background, while the speed also is measured. F r o m the latter, a curve can be plotted against wave length, wave height, period of encounter or other parameter, of the actual speed attained a s compared with the smooth w a t e r speed under the same thrust. F r o m the movie record, 6xamined frame b y frame in a viewer, the pitch and heave can be measured and the actual behavior of the model as regards* wetness and spray observed. T h e general picture observed during such tests may. be outlined. At wave lengths shorter than the ship length, the pitching is small, and the waves generally are broken b y the bow and some spray and slapping are present. When the wave length is close to the length of the ship (say from just below to about 11/4 ship lengths) the pitching motion is worst and the reduction of speed large s t . . T h e amplitude of heave increases with the

wave length. The general appearance here will depend on the sheer and flare, as to whether the vessel ships green water, only spray, or is dry. As the wave length is increased beyond this point, the motion gradually becomes less, and with very long wax~es the model adjusts itself to the wave slope and rides easily Experiments on m a n y models ([20], for example) have shown t h a t a most valuable feature in maintaining sea-kindliness is freeboard, while flare above the waterline is extremely useful in maintaining dryness. Fine waterlines are conducive to the maintenance of sea speed. T h e behavior will also depend upon the fullness of "the form, especially the shape of the designed water line forward. The interpretation of such experiments, in so far as the maint.enance of sea speed is concerned, should be made with some caution. T h e y have, for instance, assumed the maintenance of approximately constant thrust. I f the loss of speed is serious, this assumption could in m a n y cases not be fulfilled, because 'it would entail greater torques than the engine could develop Also, in such towed experiments, a n y loss of thrust due to propeller emersion is not taken into account. A s between two alternative designs, moreover, although the experiments w~ll doubtless give the relative speeds which each hull could maintain under constant thrfist, t h e speeds which either of t h e m would actually maintain will depend on their general behavior. If one is much wetter and moves more violently t h a n the other, her captain would doubtless ease speed voluntarily at an earlier stage than. the others, so t h a t a n y disparity in speed caused b y such beha{dor in the model is likely to be exaggerated in the ship. All the results (loss of speed, pitching, heaving and general behavior as regards wetness) must therefore be considered in a n y such experiments. Bottom damage is experienced occasionally b y ships in the region just abaft the fore peak bulkhead, and is usually attributed to "slamming," which occurs when the forefoot, due to the relative motion of ship and sea, emerges from the water and comes down violently onto the surface. According to K e n t [21] this occurs when the heaving relative to the wave surface is k maximum, rather t h a n the pitching, b u t the evidence does hot seem clear on this point. Experience has shown, however, t h a t damage due to such slamming is more likely on vessels with U-shaped forward sections t h a n on those with V-sections. This also has been recorded in model tests, which therefore m a y be expected to give accurate guidance in this matter. T h e American Towing T a n k Conference has an active Seaworthiness C o m m i t -

,,.

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL~ TESTING

r

877

tee, which has already produced a number of bibliographies and is hoping soon to sponsor some systematic model testing in waves. T h r o u g h o u t this account of 'seaworthiness problems it .will have been noted t h a t all te~ts have been described as being made in the orthodox t y p e of model basin. This allows only of tests in head or following seas. The possibility of finding the effects of combined "pitching, rolling and yawing in cross seas will have to await the provision of a new t y p e o f facility in which wave systems of different kinds can be generated and i n which free-running models can be propelled at any:desired angle to the
sea. ,

We. m a y well be at the dawn of a new age in which power and speed will no longer be such expensive luxuries, and in which' there will be a 'dem a n d for higher sea speeds in warships and commercial vessels alike. Seaworthiness tests are therefore likely to grow in importance and m a y in certain cases become the governing factors in d e sign. For an efficient use of model experiment results, it is essential to have a theoretbcal framework both to ensure a correct interpretation of their meaning a n d to gu.jde the future work along proper and fruitful avenues. Much has been done in this field b y Kent, Kreitner, Havelock and Weinblum, and recently the latter in collaboration with Mr. St. Denis has published a very informative and stimulating paper on ship motions a t sea [22] which is likely to be a guide for future workers in this field. " CAVITATION EXPERIMENTS

Earlier jn this paper we have' s6en t h a t a m o n g the three parameters which control the similitude between model and full-scale fluid phenomena is the requirement t h a t _P/p V 2 should be t h e same in each case, P b e i n g the pressure and V the velocity at corresponding points. In the ease of experiments with surface-ship models, the speed m u s t satisfy F r o u d e ' s - L a w of Comparison in order to' ensure' the correct wave p a t t e r n . For completely submerged models, so ~ - far below the surface t h a t there i s n o appreciable waye making, this requirement no longer holds, and ~H the speed of test can be chosen on other grounds if desired. F r o m Froude's Law V 2 will v a r y directly as the linear scale, and to fulfill the condition t h a t P / p V ~ should be the same at corresponding points in the model and ship flow pattern, _P m u s t also v a r y directly as the scale. At any such points, _P is made up of the sum of the water head and the atmospheric pressure. While the former does v a r y linegrly with scale the latter has the same constant value in both cases, so t h a t the pressure a t a n y point in the model flow is considerably

greater than it should be in order to satisfy the requirement set out above. We m u s t tr3/to see how this lack of similarity will affect the accuracy of our model tests. Consider a section of a propeller blade at a given instant and let the-statm pressure at t h a t P0mt m the fluid be P , made up of w a t e r ' h e a d and a t - . mospheric head When the propeller is r o t a t i n g and developing thrust, the pressure distribution around such a section will be as shown it/Fig. 22. On the face or after side the pressure will be greater than P and on the back or forward side will be less than P. T h e decrease of pressure On the back is much larger numerically than the increase on the face, and as the thrust is made up of the difference in ~pressure.between back and f~tce,' it will be seen t h a t t h e pressure reduction 0n the back provides more than half of the thrust; nearer two-thirds, as a m a t t e r of fact The' more highly loaded the propeller, the greater the reduction in pressure There is obviousiy a limit to t h e a m o u n t of reduction possible, and in fact when the peak reduction reaches the value of the static pressure>P no further decrease in pressure can occur., T h e fluid then no longer follows the contours of the blades and "cavities" form, which accounts for the name given to this phenomenon, cavit/ttion. In fact, the cavities are not vacua, b u t are' filled with water vapor (and m a y b e some air) so t h a t the m a x i m u m reduction in pressure is not .quite the static pressure. P b u t the difference between this and the water vapor pressure. P v appropriate to the temperature o f the water. Expressing thfs difference as a ratio to the dynamic pressure 1/~h V 2 of the flow, we write : -"
. ] .'. .

p -- p~
'~ ~oV* ,"

' (13)

where ~ is the "cavitation number," and for,similarity of flow should be the same on: model and ship.' So long as the reduction in pressure, expressed as ZXP/1/2pV2," does not reach the value of. ~ in either model or ship, the absolute value of ~ will not affect the performance of 'the propeller, since the thrust depends on the difference in pressuke On the two sides.of the blade and not on the abs61ute pressure. I t will be clear, however, "that due to the disparity in static pressure P at corresponding points in the model and ship flow patterns, the Value of A p / I / 2 p V 2 will reach the limiting value of earlier in the ship than in the model. Hence the latter will give no warning of the imminence of, cavitation in high-speed vessels. .. Up to the point of incipient cavitation, an in-: crease in propeller revolutions is accompanied by-

878
t__ ...........................

FUND.AMENTALS OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

Decr _s of Pressure

P-~
Y2pV ~
I I I I t I I I I .

/
--

/
of

5cole

6P

Y2pV a

k .
Face

\
_

Increose of Pressure "

1
OF A

FIG.

2 2 . - - P R F S S U R F DISTRIBUTION ON SECTION PROPELLER BLADE

an increase of thrust, since b o t h the excess pressure on the face and the reduced pressure on the back increase (arithmetically). Beyond the point of cavitation, the full effect of any further increase in revolutions is no longer realized, and although the thrust will still increase, it will be at a slower rate than expected, and the m a x i m u m thrust developed will be lower than that based on a cavitation-free:.estimate. This loss of estimated thrust is one of the major effects of cax;itation and m a y result in a ship failing-to reach her expected speed. Even if this situation does no{ arise, cavitation has m a n y other undesirable results and should be avoided at ahnost a n y cost. I t gives rise to erosion of propeller blades, to vibration and contributes largely.to the no ise'emitted b y a propeller. Cavitation was first observed by B a r n a b y on the British destroyer Daring about 1898, and Sir Charles Parsons shortly afterward devised the first " c a v i t a t i o n " or variable pressure water tunnel. M~/ny .such have been built since t h a t d a y and consist of a 'closed..water circuit in which the model propeller is placed" and the water circulated around it by an impeller.. T h e r e is an air chamber above the water at the highest point of the tunnel from which the air can be exhausted to any degree necessary to give the correct a at the shaft center-line of the propeller. Measurements of thrust and torque can be made, and the behavior of the screw observed through windows with the aid of stroboscopic lighting.' In this way the whole developm e n t of cavitation can be studied. At low slips,

cavitation m a y occur on the face near the root, due to too low angles of incidence. This can be eliminated b y a change in section shape, and in a n y case normally disappears with increasing slip. At still higher loadings, a tip-vortex becomes visible at each blade tip, and these vortices form spiralstrailing down the race behind the sclew. There is no material loss of thrust at this s t a g e . At higher slips the cavitation begins to spread down the back.of the blade as a "sheet" starting from the leading edge, the t i p v o r t i c e s b e c o m e larger and ribbonlike and " b u b b l e " cavitation m a y appear over the trailing half of the back of the blade (Fig. 23"). This is accompanied b y a loss of thrust as compared with noncavitating conditions'. Finally the whole b a c k o f the'blade is covered with a sheet and there is no longer a n y water in contact with the surface. Beyond this point the propeller is said to be operating in the "supercavitation" region, and with further increase of revolutions the slope of the thrust curve increases again. Curves for a screw working throughout this whole range are shown in Fig. 24. These were first given by the author in 1944 in a discussion on a paper on supercavitation, which should be r e ferred to b y anyone particularly" interested in this phenomenon. Although the efficiency of a propeller in the super-cavitation region is low, it sometimes has to be accepted in t h e c a s e of v e r y high-speed craft where propeller diameter is limited and revolutions consequently very high. I t has the somewhat compensatory feature of causing little if a n y erosion, since the bubbles now all collapse in the race clear of the blades. There are m a n y experimental difficulties i n c a v i tation testing. T h e a i r content in the water plays some p a r t in the incidence and development of cavitation. When the pressure is reduced in the tunnel, the air in the water becomes visible as bubbles and makes obseYvation impossible. After circulating the water for some time, most of these bubbles escape at the free surface in the air chamber and the water clears. The a i r content, however, is now much less than in the sea water around the ship. I t has been found at T a y l o r Model Basin, for instance, t h a t in order to obtain correlation between model and ship thrust curves under these conditions, the pressure in the tunnel m u s t be decreased below the correct scale value b y some 15 per cent, and similar reductions have been used b y other establishments. More recently, we have found t h a t if we use large bronze propellers, of some 16 inches diameter.in the 24-inch tunnel, and run the tests at the highest practicable water speed, disregarding any Froude speed scale, correlation between model and ship can be obtained

>
C~

GO

FIG. 2 . - - C A v I T A T I N G

M O D E L PROPELLER UNDER T E S T IN 12-INCH W A T E R TU,~NEL

"~ ~O

880

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

40

4.0

0,8
0.7

Revs.perSecond 14,8 16,4 18.3 20.0 26.0 View~ showing Developmenf of CaviToTion Bock cornplefely covered wih Blisfer, on Backof Blodes of Oifferen+ Revolufions which Troiled Aff of Blode over one complete Helix.Bubbles on Boss

~ z

/.
I\ .

"/

--

.....

for Reduced Pressure I . Curves Co diio o=O.83) (

Curvesfor FuN PressureConc~iion

30

+. 3.0
~
r"

0.6

0
C

0.5

~ 20 :.- 2.0 0 04
~ E 0.3

i 0.

Lo

0.2

.~~

z
__..... ~ " "

.... - W " - - -

I I

/_ 6 o ~ - c~CJS>,..~.9 ~

o('

/
0 0

O~ 9re j
18 20 22 24 I Revolutions per Second I 1200 14bo Revolufions per Mmufe

I0

12 800

14

16 I000

26 1600

28

60O

30 J 1800

FIo . 24.--THRUST, TORQUE AND EFFICIBNCY CURVES FOR SCREWS WORKING UNDER-CAVITATION CONDITIONS

without a n y such a r b i t r a r y choice of pressure. Using the highest speed possible, which is governed b y design of tunnel and the strength of the propeller blades, means t h a t the reduction in pressure to obtain the ship value of ~ is much less than with Froude scaling, and therefore less air is drawn from the.water, which can be kept almost at saturation. T h e a is 'calculated for the shaft axis, and this departure from Froude scaling means t h a t the distribution of pressure vertically across the disc is not quite correct, but this.must be accepted. A new development in cavitation tunnel design has been "made at the California Institute of Technolog~r, where the water, after passing the low-pressure section of the tunnel., is circulated through a 10ng and deep portion called a "resorber" in which there is time for the air liberated at the measuring

section under low pressure to be re-absorbed before reaching the measuring section again. In this way the air content can be kept constant. T h e effect of a i r ' c o n t e n t is not yet completely known, nor can its a m o u n t in the tunnel water be determined with accuracy. An international comparison of propellers of different diameters is now being carried out in the tunnels of the principal maritime countries, under the aegis of a committee of the International Towing T a n k Conference, of which the author is a member. Air content is one of the variables being studied and the results promise to be very interesting. Another difference between the propellers in the tunnel and on the ship is t h a t in the former the inflow velocity is uniform across the disc, whereas in practice it varies according to the wake pattern.

.t--

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIPMODEL

TESTING

I 881

T h u s a t some points in the disc the slip is considerably higher than the average value simulated in the tunnel, and cavitation is likely to occur earlier on the ship than predicted in the tunnel. For destroyers and cruisers, with fine hull form and little obstruction ahead of the propellers, the wake i s fairly uniform and this effect is small. In commercial vessels of fuller form, m a y b e w~th complete bossings, the variation in wake is much greater, and this effect m a y be material. I t is impossible to put the complete hull of a model ahead of the propeller in any existing tunnel, and T a y l o r Model Basin is experimenting with means of simulating the correct wake distribution b y means Of grids and rods ahead of the propeller. Some consideration has been given from time to time to the building of a model basin or circulating water channel in which the air above the Wholesurface could be exhausted and complete models run, b u t the difficulties are immense and so f a r have deterred any such a t t e m p t . : Despite all these difficulties of experimental technique, water tunnel experiments have taught us much about cavitation a n d how it can be avoided or delayed. This is not a paper on cavitation, and so we cannot go into this in a n y detail, but we know t h a t large blade area, the choice of blade sections with as uniform a pressure distribution' on the back as possible (and hence a lower peak pressure for the same thrust), careful design of the leading edge and correct radial distribution of pitch are all factors of importance which can be studied to advantage in such a facility.

MISCELLANEOUSEXPERIMENTS
In" addition to the more or less routine experiments discussed above, ~:he Model Basin is always proving its usefulness in other .fields. Interaction between passing ships is .a subject which has arisen in m a n y cases of collision at sea and in rivers. The use of models has been reverted to from time to t i m e t o s t u d y this problem, notably b y Admiral T a y l o r and more recently in England in connection with the Collision between the Queen Mary and H.M.S. Curacoa during the last war. Ships which, have to run in'shallow water or in restricted channels experience peculiar resistance effects and also m a y become difficult to maneuver. These problems can be studied b y means of models. At the T a y l o r Model Basin is a channel 300 feet long and 50 feet wide, in which the depth of water can be varied from 10 feet downwards. Experiments have been made there some three years ago in which a section of tiie:;Panama Canal was built and models maneuvered in it to investigate the possible widening and deepening to allow of higher speeds.

The air resistance of the above-water hull and superstructure is not a very appreciable percentage of the whole )esistance of a ship in still air, but in head winds it m a y become of i m p o r t a n c e . To reduce it m a n y a t t e m p t s have been M a d e . to a d o p t some fdrm of modified streamlining of the funnels, bridge and upper decks. Model experiments again can be of help. Models 9f the upper p a r t of a ship are made, attached to a ] a r g e ground boald, and tested in a wind tunnel at all angles of relative wind. Alternatively, such a model can be inverted and run in water in thq towing basin, the model being oriented on successive runs to represent different wind directions. ' T h e results can be applied to air resistance b y the use o f t h e correct density in the coefficients, i -. During the war, the design of the artificial hdrbors for the invasion of N o r m a n d y , such as '!!M.ulberry," was the-subject of exhaustive model experiments [23]. [24]. Marly different designs of breakwater were tested, and a model of the final design was made and installed in a model basin a t Teddington, England, and the effect of different waves on ships, barges and landing stages inside the harbor was investigated (Fig. 25). " Stability problems also m a y be investigated b y . the use of models." T h e effect of changes in coinpartmentation, loading, and metacentric height can be easily and quickly found. The problem is usually one of making sure a ship will not sifik:under given conditions. " M u l b e r r y " supplied .an instance of another kind of stability problem; i to ensure t h a t the concrete units, 200 feet loflg, 56 feet wide and 60 feet high, would sink evenly as desired on arrival at their site. A model 16 feet in length was made, and numerous sinking tests carried out to ensure correct subdivision , t o find the height of the dwarf walls on the 15ottom necessary to ensure sufficient stability in the critical early stages of sinking, and to decide the best: location of the flooding, valves'. As the full-size units were not to b e r e a d y u n t i l almost the':eve of D-day, the crews would have no o p p o r t u n i t y of practicing on the real thing, and the erews;i U. S. N a v y ratings and British Royal Engineers, were given their-,early training with this 16-foot ~odel. This had one great ad~-antage over the real' Units ;. the crews could be given very realistic picture s of w h a t not to do! . , i ! M a n y problems involving moored mines and indicator floats were-solved' during t h e W~ar. b y experiments in the circulating water channel At T a y l o r Model Basin, almost an ideal facility for such tests. Lastly m a y be mentioned problems in: directional stability of towed bodies. These are often very troublesome and only recently have they

882

F U N D A M E N T A L S OF SHIP M O D E L TESTING

FIG. 2 5 . - - T H E MULBERRY " B " HARBOR AT ARROMANCHES

FIG. 26.---BRIDGE TRAIN FOR MULBERRY HARBOR

FUNDAMENTALS OF received-much theoretical investigation. Model experiments have long been used for such work, however, and have proved their usefulness once again.. Figure 26 shows a train of bridge spans for the Mulberry.harbor under test. In ~thejfirst experiments the rear pontoon was swinging f~om wall to wall of the basin, representing a full-scale distance of 400 feet. B y the addition of simple leeboards on each side of the last spah, these bridge trains were ma.de quite stable and were success"fully towed across the English Channel in large numbers.
THE V A L U E OF M O D E L ~ T E S T I N G

SHIP MODEL TESTING

( ~ = F:HP'x427.1/A'~V3whe're ' ' / - - EHP = EffecJrive Horsepower -, i. f o r Naked S h i p " V = Speed of S h i p i n K n o f s . A = Displacemen+o{Ship , " .ih Tons ' - - T h e IHP'is d~riqed f r o m EHP--infhemonnerdescribedin _j -{he poper "]
I

883

~40 " ' 320 ~()0 .)8O 260

" '.| . ,
. i

-240 ~

~2o o
Q)

~00 L~ O
T

I t is perhaps unnecessaryLtoday to emphasize the value of model testing to .the shipbuilder and 'i60 ~ shipowner. Its great merit" is the relative cheap- 140 m ness with which it can be'carried out compared with any fullzscale, trial and error methods. "A 20 ship is an expensive proposition today and no one oo can really afford to neglect any available means of' ensuring her success. If model tests are made and - 80 are successful in reducing the over-all power by 60 even two or three p e r cent, this is a cumulative saving in fuel costs over the whole life of the ship. 4oi The amount saved may not be a large percentage of 20 the total operating costs, but it may be an appreciable addition to the net profits earned by the o 1.4 ship.. In many cases, the possible savings are much larger, and I may perhaps be a l l o w e d t o give.one -I.O ~.-~,@ ~ . such instance which m a y be of Special interest t0- , U .~ 0.8 ~ ~ "" some shipowners in Bost0m In 1938 the Coal Utilization Council in Great 6 7 8 . "9 10 "; Britain became alarmed at the inroads which the S h i p Speed in Knots Diesel engine was making into the hitherto steam- FIG: 27.--ClmvEs oF @, ..H:P. AND 1.H-P- FOE T w o F[St[propelled fishing fleets. I t therefore determined ING VESSELS . . . . . . . . . to carry out an investigation into the possibilities of improvement in hull form and in machinery. The resul{s have been given in a p a p e r b y Mr. Edt i o n a r e a c o e f f i c i e n t w a s i n c r e a s e d f r o m 0.79 t o ward of the Council staff and myself. [20 ]. Three fi~hing vessels were chosen, represeritative 0.87; so t h a t a l t h o u g h t h e block" c o e f f i c i e n t w a s of the very best type of driftdr, two being 86 f e e t increased fl:om 0.510 .to 0.520.to compe'nsate' for in length, the other 98 feet. Trips were made to the decreased mean drkft; t.he l~rismatic:cbeffici.ent the fishing grounds on all these vessels, during was nevertheless redflcdd from 0.646 to 0:596. which speeds, powers, coal consumption and other The elliptical" sterh' of:the: o~iginal model was redata were collected. At the same time, fiaodel .placed'by a cruisdr,:st'e~m~nd,.the afterbody made tests were undertaken to see what changes could fuller. T h e 'fofebo~i~, ,hb.w.ever,'_was fined~considbe made in hull a n d propeller and stern arrange- .erably, the half-angle*bf :~fftrafice'on tlie load wament to improve the vessels hydrodynamically. terline forward being reduced .from 37 'degrees to A new design finally was evolved which showed 17'degrees, and the aboye w~tter pint given,greatly . : ~. considerable promise. The length and beam were increased f l a r e . The results of. the resistance tests are given in maintained the same in both designs, but the draft aft was decre~/sed in the new one to allow Fig. 27. T h e reduction achieved in effective the u s e of shallower harbors, whereas t h e - d r a f t horsepower Was "16, 18,24," 31 and. 38 per"cent at forward was increased to improve the direction- speeds of-6, 7 , '8, 9 and 91/~ knots '~espgctively keeping properties of the ship. The midship sec- (V/x/L-vahies of 0.65, 0.75, 0.86, 0.97 and 1.02).

i89

//-/

/ /" / /" -

/1.4@ +oy

'.

,,,..

..

884

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

The acid test of all model experiments is, of course, how well the predictions made from them p o r t r a y the ~/ctual ship performance. F r o m the v a s t experience of the last sixty or so years, and the number" of successful ships built on the basis of model tests, there can b no reasonable d o u b t t h a t the latter do reflect the general performance of the ship. T h e principal object of the early model experimenters was to obtain relative results. of alternative designs. In this t h e y were on firm ground, as the principal differences are likely to be functions of the wave-making and eddy resistance, which do not depend to a first order upon viscous effects. Later, with the use of larger, self-propelled models, came the d e m a n d for pre.Improve- dictions of actual horsepowers and revolutions of the propellers. This is a somewhat more difficult ment, Design Existing -New per cent problem , introducing as it does such questions as Speed, knots 9 9 frictional resistance, roughness allowances, scale EHP, naked 80 54 32 "effect on propellers, and the prediction of cavitaPropulsive coefficient 0.585 0.665 13 PHP at propeller (including tion. 25% allowance) 171 102 40 I t is believed t h a t the present method of extraIHP at engine (assuming 5% shaft losses and 85% mepolating the frictional resistance from smooth chanical efficiency) 212 126 . 40 model to smooth ship b y means of the' Schoenherr :RPM 128 202 line is reliable, and t h a t little difference will be found if and when measurements are made on Thus, despite the increased propeller revolutions, the reduction in horsepower at 9 knots amounted planks at higher Reynolds numbers. T h e main problem in this field a t the m o m e n t is the developto no less than 40 per.cent. m e n t of a method of turbulence stimulation which Some criticism was expressed to the effect t h a t the v e r y fine lines forward would make for unsea- will be reliable, consistent and acceptable to all. T h e only method of obtaining roughness alworthiness. Tests of the models accordingly were carried out in waves, and while no measurements lowances is b y means "of carefully conducted fullscale ship trials, including preferably the measurewere taken, observations of behavior were made. T h e new design had less freeboard forward, due m e n t of thrust. This comes nearest to the measto the increased draft mentioned above, a n d the urement of actual resistance; on the assumption rough water tests soon showed t h a t this was un- t h a t the model and ship results both a p p l y to turacceptable, as this model sank! This model was bulent flow, t h a t the residuary resistance (includtherefore redesigned with increased sheer foi-ward ing " f o r m " resistance) scales according to Froude's so as to have the same height above water at the Law, and t h a t the thrust deduction is the same for stem head as the existing ship. I n subsequent model and ship, the measured thrust can be cont e s t s in irregular seas, the new model showed its verted into total resistance and broken down into superiority, for when towed abreast of the model skin friction and residuary resistance. A comof the existing ship, the latter, sank before the end parison of the first of these with t h e s m o o t h turbuof the run down the basin, whereas the new design lent value of CF at the ship Reynolds n u m b e r will was less than one-fourth full of water at the end. yield the value of ACv already defined. Although not relevant to this stow, it m a y be Values of ACv for a n u m b e r of U. S. warships mentioned in passing t h a t it was concluded t h a t a were quoted in Section 4, and showed the variation further 20 per cent reduction in fuel consumption possible in its value, and much needs to be done in could be achieved b y using modern, high-efficiency t h a t field before correct values of ACF can be steam engines and boilers. A similar type of de- chosen in advance. T a y l o r Model Basin is carsign for the large trawlers runniflg out of English rying out resistance tests o n 20-foot planks ports and fishing off Iceland has proved extremely painted with various standard paints, and making efficient and popular with both skippers and at the same time physical measurements of their owners, a not too easily earned reputation and roughness, in an a t t e m p t to find some relationship therefore a valuable tribute to its merits. between character of surface and added resistance.

T h e square s t e r n post of the original model was replaced b y a shaped post to reduce head resistance, while the single plate rudder, retained for simplicity of upkeep, was improved b y the addition of eddy plates between the stern post and the rudder stock. A new propeller was designed, suitable for higher revolutions so as to enable the new design to be fitted with a lighter, faster-running steam engine. A comparison of the model tests for the existing ship with the sea trials showed t h a t an allowance of some" 25 per cent was necessary for appendage resistance, surface roughness and service conditions. Using this figure the following comparison results:

CORRELATION OF MODEL AND SHIP RESULTS

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

:"

885'

Scale effect on thrust deduction has been inves- such have been run in the past, including the tigated on models of different sizes a n d found to classic experiments of Taylor and Froude. ~ 'Bebe generally small. I t is hoped soot/to obtain for cause t h e y are designed-on a systematic basis, the the first time values of thrust deduction coefficient effects of changing each design p a r a m e t e r . s e p a for one or more actual ships. Taylor Model Basin rately can generally.be traced out for a n y given set plans to propel certain craft with theii: ;o@n pro- of design conditions. Of course, such series are pellers, measuring the thrust, 'and then to remove not perfect, and do not always give the required these and drive the same ships b y aircraft jet en- answer, either because more than one variable has gines, measuring the thrust of the latter and so the been changed at a time or because the parent lines resistance of the ship free of all propeller interfer- have been used to cover a range of proportions and ence. If these tests are successful, and show the speed for which they are intrinsically unsuitable. scale effect on thrust deduction to be small or non- Work on such series is continuing t o d a y in a n u m existent, then the determination of ACF from ship ber of model basins, and with a satisfactory S01Ution of the turbulence stimulation problem soon, thrust measurements will b e on a firm foundation. Values of ACF can be determined also from ship we hope, to be reached, t h e y will add greatly to trials with torsionmeters, if some further assump- our store of knowledge. A p a r t from such series, a v a s t a m o u n t of such tions are made a s t o scale effect, or its absence, on model propellers. T r i a l s of"this kind on two large d a t a is hidden away in the archives of the differtankers h a v e indicated ACF values a little below ent .establishments. T h e y are, of course, in conthe standard American Towing T a n k Conference stant use b y the respective staffs, b u t m u c h of allowance of 0.0004, b u t the evidence is insufficient value to the profession is lost unless they are pubas yet to justify a n y departure from this agreed lished and analyzed. T h e Society has led. the way value. When such departure is made,, it will al- in this problem b y setting up, through its Hy'dromost certainly be necessary to define a n u m b e r of mechanics Subcommittee, a p r o j e c t t o collect values for use with different kinds of surface (riv- these data from the different basins, and to anaeted, welded, etc.) and different types of paint. lyze a n d publish t h e m in a s t a n d a r d form: AlScale effect on propellers is also known to exist and r e a d y 60 such sheets have been issued, and t h e m a y be misleading unless the model propellers are work is c o n t i n u i n g . . As more become_availablei:it large enough. T o date the International Towing will be possible to begin some systematic anaJysis T a n k Conference Committee on this subject has of the resistance results and their correlation with been unable to define what is m e a n t b y "large the forms of each model. T o make proper use of such collected d a t a , ` or enough." Some interesting investigations are possible in the case of ship trials for which reliable indeed of t h a t existing in model basin files, the measurements of thrust and torque are available. first essential is an index which will enable all This has been d6ne recently at Taylor Model Basin those models close in proportions and ful!ness to a with the somewhat surprising result t h a t the ship new design to be quickly picked out. T h e choiee wakes all appeared to be greater than those on the of p r i m a r y variables on which to classify is fairly model, contrary to generally accepted belief. I t wide. The author uses ranges of L/B ratio for the m u s t be remembered t h a t these wakes can be ob- first broad division, each range of L/B ratio being tained only bY using the model open water charac- subdivided into ranges of block coefficient. T h e teristic curves in conjunction with the ship meas- ranges of the latter are fairl)r close, so t h a t out o f urements, so t h a t the "scale" effect on wake is about 1,500 models so indexed, it is unusual .to find more than 12 to 15 in a n y one selected range. here bound up with t h a t on the model propellers. T h e next essential is to have the model results Something has already been said on the problem of predicting correctly the onset of cavitation and for the selected ranges set Out in a w a y which will bring out the merit relationships between the m . need not be elaborated on here. I t m a y be said t h a t there are two principal methI t will be evident from this brief discussion t h a t there are still m a n y problems in model testing ods in use t o d a y of presenting model .resistance technique to. be solved. T h e y are being tackled data. I n the United States .they generally are vigorously in model basins all over the world and given as curves or contours of C~ against speedb y the conduct of careful ship trials, along with length ratio, V/V'f_,. This is a convenient method the development of new measuring ideas and de- for use in calculating effective horsepower curves, vices. b u t does not lend itself easily to merit relationships, .because it does not include displacement THE USES OF MODEL DATA FoR'DESIGN PURPOSES directly, nor the skin friction resistance, and i t B y far the .most useful model d a t a for design does involve the length, which is a very indeter. purposes are the results of Standard series. M a n y minate q u a n t i t y in a n y new design.

886

FUNDAM~ENTALS OF SHIP MODEL TESTING

contain just these two quantities. Hence, if the results for the model in each of the above ranges are plotted in this form, and we enter the diagram with the required value of (~), the ~) curves will show the true merits of the different hulls, and a first selection can be m a d e and then gradually narrowed down b y taking in other features, such as B / H ratio and length, in turn. T h e sheets p u t out b y the Society include values of b o t h ~) and (~), and long experience in this kind of work has convinced the author of the merits and essential soundness of this t y p e of plot.
CONCLUSION

I n addition, m a n y published d a t a are in the form of curves of R/A, or residuary resistance in pounds per ton of displacement. This is the simplest form of presenting results, when plotted to a base of speed. T h e Froudes began with this concept also, b u t for various reasons, which cannot be gone into here, t h e y changed to a different form of presentation, namely, the "circular constant" notation. Here the resistance is expressed in the form e.h.p. X 427.1

-=
and the speed base is

,,x~

V3 "

= 0.5s34 v

A~

wherd A is in tons.and ,V is in knots. T h e ~) values a r e ' c o r r e c t e d t o a p p l y to a standard 400-foot l e n g t h / b u t the corrections for s.mall departures from this length are quite small also, so t h a t the relative merits of closely similar hulls are not materially affected b y this standardization. In a n y new design, partictflarly of a commercial ship, the two quantities/usually known Oith m o s t certainty are the deadweight and the speed, V, at which it is to be carried. T h e deadweight is easily~transformed into t h e required displacement, A, from general design data. T h e Froude constants
. , ,,.

When I was asked to prepare this paper, as a sort of sequel to three others concerned with the " f u n d a m e n t a l ''- aspects of certain branches of naval architecture, and was given the approxim a t e desired length, I wondered how I could write so m u c h on the "fundamentals of ship model testing." In the event, I have found it more difficult to stop writing and have m u c h exceeded m y alloted span. I hope, however, t h a t it has presented to you some of the m a n y difficulties which beset the model experimenter, .of the means he is using to overcome t h e m and some of the uses of an experiment t a n k through which it m a y be able to assist you in y o u r day-to-day problems.

~)," .'[7 t" . "~. ' '..

ri:
.'i. ',
..... i

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHIP M O D E L T E S T I N G

887,

REFERENCES
L . ,*

' :
:,

[1] '"The Fundamentals of Ship Form," F. H. Todd, Transactions of the Institute of Marine Engineers, London (t944). [2]-"The Fundamentals of .Ship Propulsion," F. H. Todd, Transactions of the Institute of Marine Engineers, London (1946). -~ .' [3] " T h e David W. "Taylor Model -Basin," Parts 1, 2 and 3, H-. E. SaundeYs, Transactions of The Society of Naval A#chitects and Marine Engineers (1938, 1940 and 1941). . [4] Supplement to .':'Shipbuilding and Navigation," ;Murray (1756). .~ [5] "Theory of the Construction and Management of Vessels" (1773). -[6] "New Experiments on the Resistance of Fluids,'! d'Alembert, deCondorcet a n d Bossut, Paris (1777). [7] "New Experiments on the Resistance of Fluids," Bossut, Mein. de l'Academie Royale des Sciences de Paris (1778). [8] "Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments," M. G. Beaufoy, edited and publishedby H. Beauroy in London (1834). [9] "The World's First Clipper," Boyd Cable, The Mariners Mirror, April (1943). [10] "American Clipper Ships," Howe and Matthews, The Marine Research Societyof Salem, Massachusetts. [11] "A New 1Vfethod of Research Work on Fluid Resistance," H. Wellenkamp, The Institution of Naval Architects, London (1908), and discussion on this paper. [12] "Cours deMechanique," Frederic Reech (1852). [13] "A Description of the U. S. Experimental Model Basin," E.M.B. Report No. 118, 1925.

[14].Reynolds, Osborne, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal-Soci-et.y, London (1883). [15] "Experiments o'n Surface Friction," W. Froude, British Association Reports 187:2-and' 1874. [16] "Resistance o f Flat 'Surfaces "Moving Through a Fluid," K. E. Schoenherr, Transa'ctions of the .Society of Nav~l Architects and Marine Enz gineers, NeW'York (19.32). " . [17] .The Predlotlo.'fl of the Effective. Horse15o~ver of Stiips by Metho'dg in'~USe at-the David Taylor.Model Basin," M. Gertler, TMB Report No. 576, December 1947. " [18] "Effect of Transvers&. Curvature on Frictional Resistance," L. Laildweber, TMB Report No. 689, March 1949. "" [19]' "Skin Friction ,Resistance and the Effects t of Surface R0ughness," F. ~H. Todd, TMB' Re-' port No. 729, SeptemBer 1950. [20] "Steam Drifters: Tank and Sea Tests," J. Edward and F. H. Todd, Transactions I.E.S.S. (1938). [21] "The Causes and Prevention of Slamming on Ships in a Seaway," J. L. Kent, North East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuild'ers (1949):. [22] "On the Motions of Ships at Sea,;' G. P. Weinblum and M. St. Denis, Transactions of the,, Socie.ty of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (1950). [23] "Some Model Exper.iments.Carried Out in Connection with the 'MulberYy Harbour,' " F . H . Todd, The Institution of Naval Architects (1946). [24] "Model Experiments on Different Kinds of Breakerwaters," F. H. Todd, I.C:E. (1947).

888

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL TESTING

DISCUSSION PROFESSOR L. A..BAIER, Member: Referring to [32] Kempf, Transactions of The Institution of page 88ff, it m i g h t be emphasized t h a t one of the N a v a l Architects (1937), p . 109. basic reasons for the popularity of the (~) notation [33] Payne; Transactions of T h e Institution of in the plot of model d a t a is the consistent'adher- N a v a l Architects (1936), p. 93. [34] Prandtl, Schlichting: Werft, Reederei, ence to using effective horsepower for the naked hull. Thi~ permits better comparison between Hafen (1934), p. 1. hull forms unaffected b y appendage resistance. [35] yon K ~ r n ~ n , Journal Aeronautical SciI t should likewise be r e m e m b e r e d t h a t all ~ ) pub- ences (1934), p. 1. [36] Theodorsen, National Advisory Commitlished d a t a refer to a 400-foot length. I a m enclosing table of c o r r e c t i o n s ' t o the standard {~ tee for Aeronautics R e p o r t No. 793. which permits a d j u s t m e n t to other lengths. For [37] Lackenby, Transactions of T h e Institusmall vessels it is frequently the practice in some tion of N a v a l Architects (1937), p. 120. t a n k s to convert (~) values to a standard lengt~ of [38] von K~rm~n, Werft, Reederei, H a f e n ~,(1928), p. 152. i 0 0 feet.j c ~1 [39] Havelock, Transactions of T h e Institution A somewhat similar m e t h o d of plotting model d a t a has been used in this c o u n t r y where T R H P / of.Naval Architects (1920), p.175. [40] Teller, " F u r t h e r Ship Resistance SimilarA 7/' is plotted on V/~,/Z,. After some years experimenting with the use of it'y," Transactions The Institution 'of N a v a l ArCT in the original plot of model data, we h a v e come chitects (1951), Paper No. 3. to the conclusion at Michigan t h a t it is more convenient to translate Schoefiherr's CI into R s and p l o t the resultant values of Rr/A for the following yeasons: T A B L E A . - - C O R R E C T I O N OF ~400 FOR SHIP LENGTHS I t is v e r y difficult to fair Cr d a t a in the region GREATER OR SHORTER THAN 4 0 0 F E E T where it begins to turn up and a t t e m p t to parallel Based on I . C . T . S . f values for.salt water :a Cf curve. On the other hat[d, in p!otting R , / a it is m u c h easier to fair this curve, since it becomes Ratio (~L Basic ~400 zero at zero speed. ~ F H P / E H P for 400-ft s h i p ~ The ,question of friction~/1 resistances has always Length, feet 0.60 0.70 0.80 been of prime interest to a testing t a n k and recent 1. 106 1.123 1.141 100 articles b y Pr6fessor E. V. Telfer are intriguing in 1. 086 1.099 1.114 125 . their unique 'discussions of an old subject. I t 1. 070 1.082 1. 094 150 1. 059 1. 068 1. 078 175 would, therefore, seem of interest to include in the 1. 050 1. 057 1. 065 200 a u t h o r ' s bibliography'the followifig additional ref1. 041 1. 047 1. 053 225 erence~ : " ' ' " 1. 033 1. 038 1. 043 250 275 1. 026 1. 030 1. 034 1. 020 1. 023 1. 026. 300 [25] " J a p a n e s e Society of N a v a l Architects," 1.015 1.017 1.019 325 H i r a g a (1934), p. 101. 1.010 1.011 1.012 35O [26] " J a h r b u c h der Schiffbautechnishe Gesell1. 000 1. 000 1. 000 400 45O 0. 992 0. 991 0. 990 s c h a f t ) ' Schlichting (1933), p. 304. 0. 985 0. 982 0. 980 5OO [27] Teller, Transactions of T h e Institution of 0. 978 0. 975 0. 971 550 N a v a l Architects (1950)., p. 1. 0. 972 0. 968 0. 963 6OO 0. 967 0. 961 0. 956 65O [28] Telfer, Transactions of T h e Institution of 0. 962 0. 955 0. 949 70O N a v a l Architects (1927), p. 174. 75O 0. 957 0. 950 0. 9 4 3 0. 953 0. 945 0. 937 8OO [29] Telfer, Transactions, N o r t h E a s t . Coast 0. 949 0. 940 0. 932 85O I n s t i t u t i o n (1928-29), p. 115. 0. 945 0. 936 0. 927 90O [30] '.'Aircraft Engineering," Falkner (1943), 0. 942 0. 932 0. 922 95O 0.939 0.928 0.918 1000 p . 65. [31] Kempf, Transactions of T h e Institution of EHP ~) = 427.1 A~i Vr~ N a v a l Architects (1929), p. 104.

'T

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL TESTING

889

MR. H. DE LUCE, # l e m b e r : , I would like to say t h a t We are indebted to Dr. T o d d for this his fourth " F u n d a m e n t a l " paper.~ I t is an excellent s u m m a r y of the history and development of ship model testing and it is an understandable statem e n t of the fundamental techniques invoFced. I t is of interest to naval architects and marine engineers alike. Dr. T o d d is to be commended for his frank s t a t e m e n t t h a t " t h e r e are still m a n y problems in model testing technique to be solved." N o t v e r y m a n y years a g o , ship model experimenters accepted the accuracy of their speed and power predictions with a complacency not always justified b y trial trip results. As Dr. T o d d has stated, there is now a generalrealizati0n of such problems as turbulence stimulation and: a concerted effort is being m a d e to find solutioI~s, to these problems. I believe t h a t it is very wise t h a t this effort ineludes basic technical studies as well as the develo p m e n t of new practical techniques and empirical solutions. I t is to be realized t h a t not the least of the ship model experimenter's troubles result from the fact t h a t the naval architect today, more than ever before, is asking the model basin to evaluate design variations which can be expected to produce only small changes in resistance or in propulsive efficiency. Except in the case of unusual design.limitations, our background of experience is such t h a t t o d a y it is r e l a t i v e l y e a s y to define a satisfactory hull form and propeller and predict performance with sufficient accuracy.to determine safely the rating of the propelling machinery. On the other h a n d , it is correspondingly difficult to define the refinements to this selected hull form and propeller which would produce a reduction in resistance or an i m p r o v e m e n t in propulsive efficiency. Despite the fact t h a t m u c h is being done toward developing the m a t h e m a t i c s of ship resistance, naval architects for some time to come will look.to the ship model experimenter to measure the necessarily small differences which result from those variations in hull form, appendages a n d propeller which are permissible within the specified dimensions or other design limitations. In all of t h i s w e m u s t not lose sight of the fact t h a t every a d v a n t a g e m u s t be taken of full-size trials. The naval architect and the ship model experimenter are equally interested in-the correlation' of model and ship performance. I t is to be hoped t h a t ship o w n e r s will also come to realize the ultimate importance to t h e m of adequate and scientifically conducted trials and t h a t they will write such trials into their specifications for new construction. Progress in this direction has been made b y the Society in the preparation and pub-

lication of trial codes prepared b y t~he Technical and Research Committee. Dr. T o d d ' s paper deals with the fundamentals of ship model work, and therefore I m u s t apologize for some discussion of detail considerations. W i t h reference to self-propelled tests, I think it is true t h a t there is far from unanimous agreement in r e - . gard to thrust versus torque wake. F r o m page 869 of the paper it might be assumed t h a t t h r u s t wake is generally accepted." I a m not sure t h a t this is true. For example, I belieye I a m correct in m y understanding t h a t self-propelled results furnished b y the T a y l o r Model Basin indicate a wake which is a mean of the thrust and torque wake fractions. Professor Lewis has proposed a procedure making use of b o t h thrust and torque wake and eliminating the relative rotative..efficiency. Dr. Todd states, on p~ge 869, t h a t the propeller gives "slightly" different efficiencies when working behind the model and in open water, the ratio of these efficiencies being the so-called relative rotative efficiency. I m i g h t quarrel s o m e w h a t with the word "slightly." -In our experience the relative rotative efficiency for single-screw ships, as determined from T a y l o r Model Basin test data, is often 105 per cent to 106 per cent and in one case was as high as 109 per cent. I personally "have difficulty in visualizing a physical concept which will explain satisfact6rily why a propeller is 6 per ' cent more efficient in the non-uniform wake behind the model as compared with its performance i n undisturbed water. I feel t h a t this improvem e n t in efficiency m a y not be real but, at least in part: is a result of the model basin technique. On page 870, Dr. T o d d mentions the practice of selecting a stock propeller, fitting design conditions as nearly as possible, and self-propelling w i t h this stock propeller t O obtain the value of the various elements of propulsive efficiency to assist i n the final design of the propeller for the ship. We have adopted this policy in r e c e n t model tests, in p a r t to expedite the testing program. W e h a v e been disturbed so.mewhat b y the fact t h a t different propellers behind the same model hull seem to show different Wakes and t h r u s t deductions even though the propellers have the same diameters and are generally similar in other characteristics.: See Fig. 28. I t would be appreciated if Dr. T o d d would give his opinion as to whether 'these differences:are within the limit of accuracy of selfpropelled and open w a t e r tests or whether w a k e and thrust deductions are actually very sensitive to variations in propeller details and that- a; close comparison' of the propellers used would justify the results obtained. On page 876, Dr. T o d d refers to slamming "which occurs when the forefoot, due to the relatiTe'm0-

890

F U N D A M E N T A L S OF S H I P M O D E L T E S T I N G

v/,/c=
I
0.30

' A 0.60
I o~:::~

V/VZLL= 0.7C

I
B~ 0,

B
D'

f~c
)F

D(%0.20 W 0.30

v/-c=o.8o

v/f= o.9o

0.20

@oF
0.10 F 0.20 t
FIo. 28

0.10

0.20

tion of ship and sea, emerges from the water a n d comes down on to the surface." I t is m y impression that recent studies of seakindliness show t h a t slamming, and resulting b o t t o m damage, occur even thoug h the forefoot does not emerge from the water.
PROFESSOR ALLAN B. )/[URRAY, Member: Dr. Todd, in his p a p e r , " T h e Fundamentals of Ship ~VIodel Testing," has produced a very excellent and useful piece of work. He has covered all of the basic information on towing tanks, and, in addition, has demonstrated m a n y possibilities for the use of towing tanks, some of which are not generally realized b y the profession at large. I get the impression t h a t Dr. Todd has not tal~en fully into account the large experience with small models acquired in, say, the past twenty years. While the large model is no doubt to be preferred for m a n y tests, the successful solution of the problems of handling small models has opened the way for a very great expansion of facilities and, in consequence, of the a m o u n t of research possible. I t seems to me that the statement, " . . . a Reynolds number of 107 is required in order to be reasonably free from transition effects . . . . " is somewhat ambiguous a n d does not recognize the usefulness of small models when turbulence is induced. Turbulence stimulation is standard pra c-

tice for small models and has also been found necessary for certain large models. Methods of inducing turbulence can be put roughly into two groups: (1) those methods not employing local disturbances to the fiaodel, and (2) methods employing local disturbances. The first includes operating at above-normal temperatures, keeping the tank water stirred by water jets or other mechanical means, and keeping the water "alive" by controlling the time between successive runs. The second group includes using sand strips near the bow, towing a strut ahead of the model, and equipping the model with a trip wire; methods t h a t often create changes in the flow which are difficult to evaluate. According to m y experience, too little emphasis has been put on the first group and, while those methods m a y not always do the job, t h e y have been successful in m a n y cases. Recently, a 5-foot model run in the Experimental Towing T a n k without t h e ' rise of any of the second group of local disturbances, showed no evidence of turbulence deficiency down to a Reynolds number of 9 X 105. The statement, "The larger the model the more accurately can it be made and the larger are the forces to be measured, both features leading to greater accuracy in the resultant measurement of resistance," is subject to considerable argument. If something other than wood or wax were used for the models, I might agree with the first part of the statement. I have found t h a t for a given number of body sections, it is often easier to fair a small model. As for the accuracy of resistance measurement, instruments can be designed and built that are just as precise for small forces as'for large forces. The accuracy of measurement of resistance of any hull model depends somewhat on the resistance per pound of model. For the same Froude number, the resistance per pound of a small model is greater than that of a large modell a factor which might even tend to make the problem a little easier for a small model. There m a y be some argument regarding the accuracy of very small propeller models; however, it is probably a matter of economics rather than of accuracy. As the diameter of a propeller model becomes smaller, the cost of providing a .model of equal accuracy becomes greater. I t is true that scale effect becomes less important as the size of the model increases. The question is : how large do we have to make a model to ignore the scale effect? As models become larger, testing is put out of the reach of m a n y people. I agree t h a t the problem of passing from model to ship is an extremely difficult one, which cannot be said to have been completely solved today: Perhaps if more effort were .put on scale

FUNDAMENTALS

OF S H I P M O D E L T E S T I N G

891

effects we m i g h t come closer to a solution without the necessity of very large models. I t is mentioned on page 858 that, " T h e values of Cs for a wide range of Reynolds numbers have b e e n ' c a l c u l a t e d b y Mr. Gertler of the D a v i d T a y l o r Model T e s t Basin and published in R e p o r t No. 576 . . . . " F o r the record, it m i g h t be well to bring out t h a t the Experimental Towing T a n k h a s b e e n using the Schoenherr mean line for calculating skin friction since 1933, 14 years before its adoption b y the American Towing T a n k Conference and the publication of Mr. Gertler's paper. To m y knowledge, .the first published tabulation of Schoenherr friction coefficients was prepared b y M r . . A n t h o n y Suarez and issued ~n 1938 as Experimental Towing T a n k Technical M e m o r a n d u m No. 58. I n 1939, this table was extended from Reynolds n u m b e r of 1 X 109 to 1 X 101. In 1948, the Society of N a v a l Architects and Marine Engineers had check computations of this table made b y , t h e National Bureau of Standards. These new values, differing-in a n u m b e r of cases in the 4th figure, are published in Bulletin 1-2.' T h e p a p e r brings out t h a t model testing includes tests other than resistance and powering Three unusual tests carried out at. the Experim e n t a l Towing T a n k might prove interesting to the m e m b e r s of the New England Section : (1) Tests of an L C T model launched from the deck of an L S T m o d e l w e r e carried out to determine the best angle for the skids so t h a t the L C T would enter the water at a proper aflgle and not strike the hull of the mother ship on the rebound. (2) Broadside towing tests were recently run on a model of a fishing boat in order to determine the drifting speed of the p r o t o t y p e ship in a b e a m wind, because excessive drifting speed causes damage t o the nets. R u n s ' were made with various arrangements of center-line and off-center keels to' determine which ones would give the proper control. (3) A study was m a d e recently to determine how much force was necessary to attain a given lateral velocity at the bow of a ship. This was p a r t of a s t u d y to determine the feasibility of using p u m p jets in ship bows for the purpose of maneuvering the ship. Dr. T o d d mentions, b u t does not emphasize, testing towed bodies for directional stability. M a n y experiments h a v e been m a d e in the p a s t f e w years, both in the Experimental Towing T a n k and in the N a v a l T a n k at the University of Michigan, to improve the towing stability of barges. As the shape of barges is refined to reduce resistance, the problem, of yawing is aggravated. Although yawing tests are.of a qualitative nature,

they result in m a n y successful solutions. A t this time it appears t h a t each,form of barge needs a unique solution, a solution giving satisfactory tracking ability with a m i n i m u m increase in resistance. I n m o s t cases, installation of antiyawing devices is necessary and sometimes adds as m u c h as 40~o to the towing resistance. However, overall operation is improved b y reducing the towing time from port to port. The Experimental Towing .Tank has made s o m e barge tests on the rotating a r m and hopes soon to obtain s o m e directional stability information of a q u a n t i t a t i v e nature. This paper, together with references il] and [2], fills a great need in t h a t they have done m u c h to clear up a great deal of the " m y s t e r y " a p p a r ently associated with model testing. Dr. T o d d deserves all our thanks, and the New England Section should be complimented for making this information public. MR. J. B. PARKINSON, Member: Dr. T o d d ' s . p a p e r presents an interesting picture of the present scope and value of ship model testing. I t is refreshing in this d a y of bewildering complexities in the applied sciences to review the elegant simplicity of Froude's approach to the problem of resistance, and, in spite of remaining uncertainties, to marvel at the precision attained. I t is also of great significance to note the m a n y additional problems of the naval architect t h a t can be attacked with models and realize the opportunities for further contributions t h a t exist. In the aeronautical field, the convenient Froude model has likewise proved its worth, not only in dealing with the water resistance~of seaplanes during take off b u t with the equally i m p o r t a n t problems of h y d r o d y n a m i c stability and spray. In addition to the seaplane t a n k work, Froude models also have been extensively used, though not a l w a y s recognized as such, in wind-tunnel investigations of aerodynamic stability, and control, spinning, and gust loads. F o r reproducing the dynamic .motions of aircraft during maneuvers in the air or on the water, a i r c r a f t models are m a d e dynamically similar as .well as geometrically so. b y using scale m o m e n t s of inertia as well as scale-weights and center of g r a v i t y -positions. A t Froude corresponding speeds, a e r o d y n a m i c forces t h a t v a r y as area times speed squared v a r y as the cube of the model scale as do the weights and inertia forces. Neglecting viscous effects, as can often be done, the full scale behavior is then simply a slow motion picture of the model behavior. When power .effects are important, propeller or jets having scale thrust are added for a more complete simulation.

892

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL TESTING tests and many others were developed. Directorship during this period was in the hands of Captain E. F. Eggert for abot~t twelve years; Captain William McEntee for abotit six years and Captain Richardson, Commander G a y h a r t and Captain Saunders for various short periods. Captain Saunders was second in command for about ten years and subsequently became Technical Director at the T a y l o r Model Basin. Various other naval constructors, such as Commander" Roop, Pitre, Kell and Lybrand Smith,. were attached to the Basin at various periods and for various lengths of time; all of them contributed to the developments in various ways and degree. Throughout this period, Mr. L y m a n F. Hewins was senior naval architect and Dr. Albert Zahm was chief of the aeronautical division. The actual testing was carried on by the civilian staff under Mr. Hewins' direction and principally by the following keymen: Curry, Janes, Schoenherr, Thews and Windenburg. Dr. Windenburg devoted his efforts exclusively to hull structural work; of "the others, Mr. Janes had charge of stability and pitot tube work and of hull lines development, Curry carried on seaplane float and related work, Thews devoted most of his efforts to small model and ship dynamics in which he was joined later b y Mr. Landweber, and the writer had charge of propeller open-water testing, selfpropulsion tests, steering and maneuvering tests and miscellaneous work related to these fields. These keymen were primarily responsible for the development of the techniques described in the paper. As an example I might mention t h a t when the writer took charge of self-propulsion work in 1923 the model was propelled free from the towing .carriage; this method was cumbersome and not too accurate. Gebers' method of propelling the model at the ship instead of the model propulsion point was then experimented with and was found so superior that it was subsequently adopted. The dynamometers were redesigned from recording to direct reading so as to shorten the time of evaluation of the test' data. Other minor improvements were made as time progressed, but it is fair to say that the method described in the paper was fully and accurately devel6ped by about 1925. Small model work was started in 1928 at the instigation of Captain Eggert. A 35-foot basin of wood planking lined with lead sheet was constructed and a gravity dynamometer developed; the early work was done b y Curry but later taken over b y Gayhart, Thews and Landweber. No practical results were obtained until after the .writer's work with friction planes in this basin and the more accurate determination of the

In the Langley tanks, powered dynamic models are employed regularly for predictions of performance of seaplane designs and effects of systematic variations on such hydrodynamic qualities as drifting, low speed maneuvering, take-off and landing stability in smooth and rough water, spray interferences, etc. Free-body landings of dynamic models of landplanes are made to determine the probable behavior during emergency landings on water and the best piloting procedures for "ditchings." Since structural damage has an important effect on ditching characteristics, components of these models are sometimes made at scale strength to simulate more accurately the actual accident and to gain an-idea of the damage to be expected. Dr. Todd's paper will be retained as a valuable reference. The opportunity to contribute this small addition to the information provided is appreciated and it is regretted the discussion cannot be communicated personally. DEAN KARL E. SCHOENHERR, Member: In this very interesting paper Dr. Todd has summarized in masterful fashion the present status of ship model testing with particular reference to the techniques and methods prevailing at the David Taylor Model Basin. He has covered the subject so thoroughly t h a t from the technical point of view there is little one can add to make the paper more valuable. However, as Dr. Todd's predecessor in office at the Taylor Basin, I am happy to have the opportunity to amplify the paper by highlighting the development of the Various techniques as carried on at the Experimental Model Basin and the T a y l o r Model T e s t Basin between about 1920 and 1945. When speaking of the Experimental Model Basin one quite naturally thinks first of Admiral D. W. Taylor. Under Taylor's brilliant leadership extending from the founding of the basin through the first world, war, bare hull model testing, development of mathematical ship lines, propeller open water testing, flow studies b y pitot tube and color traces, rolling and pitching and wave theory were brought to perfection. All of this work is well known and was published in various papers and in the early editions of "Speed and Power of Ships." The succeeding period extending from about 1918 and 1938 is much less publicized but nevertheless was a period of equally brilliant development. During this period selfpropulsion tests, steering and maneuvering tests, stability and launching tests, cavitation tests, seaplane float tests, propulsion tests with paddle wheels and tunnel screws, tests with small models towed by gravity dynamometer, hull structural

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL TESTING

893

friction law; this development paralleled the similar development at the Stevens tank but was carried out quite independently. Later, of course, Stevens, where no facilities for:testing large models existed, outdistanced Experimental M o d e l Basin in this.particular field. The modern cavitation techniques were developed almost simultaneously at Experimental Model Basin and'at the Hamburg Model Basin in Germany. The 12-inch variable pressure water tunnel at Experimental Model Basin was .completed about-1930; the much larger Hamburg tunnel somewhat later. I t is fair to say that neither of these tunnels in design or conception was influenced by the earlier work by Parsons and others mentioned in tile paper; they were definitely, influenced, however, b y t h e - w i n d tunnels which at that time had already reached a high state of perfection. Cavitation was then actively discussed at 'Experimental Model Basin a n d Captain Eggert, alwa3~s perceptive ,of new needs, ordered its design. The design was carried through b y Mr. MeCrary, the mechanical engineer at Exi~erimental Mode ! Basin, incorporating ideas "contributed b y various staff members. M t e r ' completion the writer suggested a routine testing t e c h n i q u e - a n d directed the early tests. Subsequently, the work passed into the hands of Rubinowitz and Bowers who worked out the correction factors mentioned in the paper b y . comparing the test results with full-scale trial data and made m a n y other improvements. Turbulence stimulation .to stabilize the flow was tried at Experimental Model Basin as the result o f the experience gained on small models. 'Curiously it was found to have little effect on large models, at least not to the extent found later in the Taylor Model. BaSin. This was thought to be the result of the rapid damping of waves and currents, in the. Experimental Model Basin which permitted running in five-minute intervals, which in turn insured a high degree of residual or backgroun d turbulence in the water. In the much larger body of water of the Taylor Model Basin background turbulence would be expected to be less, and the longer time interval between runs (up to ten minutes) should decrease it further; turbulence stimulation at Taylor Model Basin would therefore be expected to be a more important factor than it proved at Experimental Model Basin. The increase in- size of the new basin over the old one was therefore not an u n m i x e d blessing. On the other hand, "the old Experimental Model Basin with its maximum depth of only 14 feet and mean effective depth of about 12 feet proved too shallow for the testing of models longer than 20 feet at speeds eorre-

sponding to top ship speeds of cruisers, airplane carriers, and similar ships. Models up 'to 30 feet long were tested at Experimental Model Basin b u t usually the upper end of the speed curve was discarded since shallow water effect was q u i t e noticeable. . " " Dr. Todd's statement that the model technique has unlimited possibilities has' m y full support. During the war years all the basins available to the N a v y for testing were in continuous use and the variety of tests m a d e is too numerable to mention in this brief review. Torpedoes, mines, paravanes, caissons, floats, demolition charges, towing cables besides war and merchant .vessels of all categories were tested for all sorts of characteristics; for this work the large water surface, the long run and t.he powerful towing carriage at Taylor Model Basin proved, of course, invaluable. We recall that at one time even a sand beach was constructed in the shallow water basin for beaching tests of landing craft. While such tests were necessarily qualitative rather than quantitative, they nevertheless y i e l d e d useful results." The unbounded faith of the N a v y D e p a r t m e n t in the effectiveness of model tests was perhaps best illustrated b y the decision in the midst of the war, reached in an afternoon conference, to lengthen the basin from" 1,200 feet "to 2,900 feet so as to permit the testing of full-scale torpedoes and similar large objects. Dr. Todd makes several references to the fact that similitude of p r e s s u r e g r a d i e n t s d o e s ' n o t prevail in model tests carried' out in the towing basin. Fortunately this is not necessary if cavitation" speeds are riot reached. To obtain complete similitude a variable pressure flow channel is reqtiired." It may be of interest to point out that the writer has recently completed the design of such a flow channel to be constructed at the University of 'Notre Dame. - The test section of this facility is an open surface flume 24 inches wide b y 16 inches-deep b y 7 feet long m o u n t e d in a steel chamber in which the pressure can be varied; in general appearance the whole facility resembles the standard wind tunnel or water tunnel. The test .flume is t o . b e made.of plate glass or lucite and the tunnel itself of stainless steel plate. In such a flume m a n y tests can be made which cannot be run successfully in existing facilities such as cavitation tests on surface and cycloidal propellers, cavitation tests on rudders, c a v i t a t i o n tests on ship appendages and hydrofoils," all under correct speed and pressure relations. The construction of the channel awaits at present the procurement of funds b u t there is reasonable hope that these funds can be secured. In conclusion I should like to c o n g r a t u l a t e D r .

894

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

T o d d on his v e r y fine discussion of an i m p o r t a n t and .fascinating subject. I should also like to congratulate the New England Section of the Society of N a v a l Architects and Marine Engineers for its initiative in sponsoring this valuable paper. CAPTAIN F. X. FOREST, U.S.N., Member: This authoritative presentation is another of ]Dr. T o d d ' s outstanding contributions to the general field of N a v a l Architecture. There is little t h a t can be added, b u t for the interest of those members who m a y not be closely associated with model testing, it might be pointed out t h a t while the Froude law applies to the testing of surface ships, in the case of totally submerged bodies, no surface waves are created and the Froude law therefore does not apply. In such cases, only friction is involved, and the model speeds m a y be as high as it is practicable to run them.

There are a n u m b e r of relations which must be fulfilled to achieve dynamic similarity between model and ship. The more i m p o r t a n t of these have been discussed in the paper, b u t it m a y perhaps be worth while to summarize them here: VL Reynolds number R = - In those cases where the inertia forces predominate over the viscous forces, R is large, and vice versa. Froude number F = - V "

DR. FREDERICK H. TODD, Member: 1. I t is extremely interesting to have Professor L. A. Baler's comments on the use of ~) for plotting V2L model data. I t certainly is advisable to m a k e all W=p -comphrison on the basis of naked hull resistance, since we know t h a t there can be considerable 3. Mr. H. de Luce has stated v e r y clearly scale effect on appendages, which is, for example, some of the difficulties which face the model apparently much greater for open shafts and experimenter when asked to differentiate between brackets t h a n for complete bossings. I t is im- the effects of v e r y small changes in hull form or in portant to remember, however, t h a t (~) plots to a propeller design. To be able to do so, the experibase of a n y other coefficient than (~) m a y be quite menter m u s t be able to measure the resistance of a misleading. ~ ) curves to a base of V / x / Z , for model and the thrust of the model propeller with example, m a y not show the true comparative per- cons'iderable accuracy. Of recent years the imformance of a n u m b e r of models which are gener- portance of turbulence stimulation in the former ally comparable in main proportions and fullness. type of measurement has been increasingly recogAlthough this paper is not primarily concerned nized, and it is gratifying to have a man of M r . ' with frictional resistance, the subject is of prime de Luce's.practical experience stating .the need interest to the model experimenter, as Professor for basic research in order to obtain a firm underBaler states, and his list of references to papers on standing of such problems. T h e T a y l o r Model skin friction resistance is a welcome addition to the Basin has devoted a considerable p a r t of its bibliography. research effort to this problem over the last three 2. As Captain F. X. Forest states, models of years. At the same time the staff has developed torpedoes or submarines, when run deeply sub- new electrical d y n a m o m e t e r s in order to improve merged, do not create a n y surface waves, and it is the accuracy of the measurement of propeller no longer necessary to fulfill the Froude similarity thrust and torque. Mr. de Luce also emphasizes the need for shipcondition t h a t V / x / - ~ m u s t be the same in model and ship. .It is possible, therefore, to tow such owners to realize the necessity of conducting good models at higher than Froude speed in an endeavor full scale trials on new s h i p s . T h e y are the to obtain as high a product of VL as possible; ultimate benefactors of a n y i m p r o v e m e n t s in i.e., as high a Reynolds number. As explained in resistance or propulsion since these are finally the paper, i t is not possible to attain anything reflected in the running costs of the ships. Again like the correct ship Reynolds n u m b e r b y this the Model Basin is always v e r y keen and v e r y device, b u t b y running at as high a speed as possi- willing to take p a r t in such trials and to provide ble, the r i s k of laminar or transitional flow is such instrumentation and staff as m a y be necesreduced, the extrapolation range is lessened, and sary to obtain measurements of the propeller since the forces are larger the accuracy of meas- thrust and torque. Only b y obtaining such reliable full-scale d a t a and b y its correlation with urement is increased.

For a model and ship of different sizes and the same form, the Froude number m u s t be the same in each case in order to ensure geometrically similar wave system. In those problems in which surface tension is involved, another ratio m u s t be the same between model and ship,, which is designated as the Weber number W, defined as

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL TESTING

895

model tests can we hope to obtain the necessary correlating factors between model and ship performance. Mr. de L u t e is correct in stating t h a t the selfpropelled r e s u l t s furnished b y the Taylor Model Basin have in the past given a w a k e which is a mean of those derived from the thrust and torque identity. However, it is now recognized t h a t such a wake has no real meaning and it is proposed in the future t h a t both wake fractions be given. T h e thrust Wake is easier to measure accurately on the model since it does not involve friction losses in the shaft bearings and propulsion gear, but of course there is no thrust wake ~/vailable from the ship trial to compare with. the model figures except in those rare cases where the ship is fitted with thrust meters. T h e Propeller Committee of the American Towing T a n k Conference has recently issued a report to the Conference in which it advocates the use of .both wake fractions when presenting results in order t h a t either m a y be used according to the d a t a available. The wake fractions as measured behind a model depend partly on the flow pattern generated b y the hull and partly on the inflow velocities generated b y the propeller and these will v a r y along the blade according to the distribution of pitch and area. We should therefore expect some change in wake and thrust deduction when we v a r y either of these two design features-in a propeller. In m a n y cases variations do occur in the wake fraction and relative rotative efficiency for quite small changes in propeller design. Some of these are doubtless due to the difficulties in making accurate measurements of thrust and torque on the model propellers. I t should be remembered t h a t the relative rotative efficiency has a sort of final correlating factor which is applied to the results to give agreement between the measured propulsive efficiency and the product of the propeller efficiency in open water and the hull efficiency, and therefore in effect catches all the errors in these differing factors. 4. Mr. A. B. M u r r a y has raised the question of the usefulness of small models. I thought t h a t I had been quite careful to point out t h a t a n y of m y remarks regarding small models had particular application to those tests in which turbulence was not stimulated. Thus, in the section headed "Resistance Experiments," I stated t h a t " I t is obvious t h a t without turbulence stimulation small models are likely to suffer from transitional flow and so m a y give quite misleading results." We recognize, too, at the T a y l o r Model Basin, t h a t turbulence stimulation is needed on 20-foot or even 25-foot models in certain cases. This is notoriously true of the Liberty Ship models. In

those experiments in which the viscous forces are not of such great importance, such as the sea, worthiness tests of a model in waves, we have used and are using small models of 4 to 5 feet in length. I n the past three years we have devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of turbulence stimulation, applying sand strips, trip wires, struts and vibration methods, but we 'have not yet come to a n y decision as to the correct stimulator to use in order to insure fully turbulent'flow over the model. We are exploring .the area of. laminar flow b y means of chemical paint techniques, dye streams and hot wire velocity meters. In general, however, we do not find t h a t there ' i s a n y great effect of stimulation on models of fine ships when these are s o m e 20 feet or more in length. T h e r e is great activity in this subject throughout the world at this time, and it is believed t h a t a great deal of information will be ,put forward at the meeting which will discuss this subject at the forthcoming International Conference of Ship T a n k Superintendents to be held in Washington in September this year. Only when we have achieved a satisfactory solution of the stimulation problem will we be able to correlate the model and ship results in such a way as to arrive at the necessary roughness allowances for new designs. Mr. M u r r a y ' s remarks on other kinds of tests which m a y be carried out in a Model Basin are extremely interesting and add to the value of the paper, one of the objects of which was to give people in industry a broader idea of the uses of models in hydrodynamic research and ship design. 5. Mr. J. B. Parkinson's remarks on the use of dynamic models in problems concerned with the dynamic motions of aircraft are extremely interesting. and valuable. In the past perhaps too much attention has been devoted to the smooth water performance of ships. With the increase i n ship speeds which is taking place today, there is a growing need for good sea-keeping qualities in order t h a t the increased speed in smooth water m a y not all be lost in rough seas. The use of ship models tested in waves in the Model Basin to determine the relative merits of b o t h above and beiow water shape on the sea-kindliness of a n y new .design is increasing, and we will then, of course, b e driven to making our models dynamically similar just as Mr. Parkinson has described for aircraft models. We take advantage of his s t a t e m e n t t h a t the full-scale behavior is then simply a slow motion picture of the m o d e l behavior b y taking movies of the model at relatively high speed and projecting it a t a lower speed appropriate to the scale ratio between model and

896

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHIP MODEL

TESTING

ship. In this way extremely realistic pictures of the ship behavior can be obtained. 6. I t is extremely interesting to have Dr. Schoenherr's review of the history and developm e n t of model testing, first at the Experimental Model Basin and s u b s e q u e n t l y a t the Taylor Model Basin. H e has also added to the value of the paper b y including examples of the less usual types of tests which can be made with models in a model basin, circulating water channel or cavitation tunnel. I was v e r y much interested to hear of the fact t h a t he had just completed the design of a variable pressure flow .channel. Such a facility to take large-size ship models has been proposed from time to time, notably in Sweden,

b u t the problems associated with running a large model suitable to carry self-propulsion apparatus and self-recording gear in a space exhausted of air have hitherto proved too big a deterrent to the building of such a facility. There is no question, however, of the great uses which.could be made of such a channel from the point of view of observing the onset of eavitation, not only from propellers, b u t from sonar domes, bilge keels, shaft brackets and other appendages. We will look forward with great interest to seeing the results of Dr. Schoenherr's initiative in designing and building such a channel, which we are sure will be found of great use in all problems connected with cavitation flow.