ABSTRACT
This paper discusses nonlinearities in motions, vertical accelerations, and vertical bending moments of a mega-scale container ship in heading waves. Experiments have been conducted using a ship model with an elastic backbone, which represents the mega-scale container ship with more than 300 m length. The waves generated in the experiments represent those of 8 m and 12 m heights at the real scale. Experimental data for the regular waves shows that the effects of the ship speeds and the wave heights are not so significant in the ship motions. On the other hand, the data of the vertical accelerations and the vertical bending moments shows obvious effects of the ship speeds and the wave heights. Exceedance probability calculated using the experimental data for an irregular wave shows similar trends, i.e. the exceedance probability of the vertical accelerations and the sagging bending moments is changed by the ship speeds.
