KELVIN WAKES AND WAVE RESISTANCE OF CRUISER-STERN AND TRANSOM-STERN SHIPS

The steady wave patterns, Kelvin-wake spectra and wave resistance of s everal realistic ship hulls are computed by a Rankine panel method. Wa ll-sided as well as transom-stern ships are studied over a broad range of Froude numbers and the importance of enforcing a Kutta-type condit ion of smooth flow detachment at the transom stern is demonstrated. Th e lack of numerical damping in the solution scheme permits the reliabl e prediction of the Kelvin wake far from the ship and allows its use i n the evaluation of the free wave spectrum. The wave resistance is eva luated by pressure integration as well as momentum conservation and th e merits of the latter method are discussed.