4.1 Objectives and definitions
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Circulars - Maritime Safety Committee - MSC.1/Circular.1200 – Interim Guidelines for Alternative Assessment of the Weather Criterion – (24 May 2006) - Annex - Interim Guidelines for Alternative Assessment of the Weather Criterion - 4 Guidelines for Experimental Determination of the Angle Φ1 - 4.1 Objectives and definitions

4.1 Objectives and definitions

  4.1.1 The objective of the tests addressed in this chapter is the determination of Φ1 (paragraph 3.2.2.3 of the Code). The “angle of roll to windward due to wave action” Φ1 is defined, according to weather criterion, as follows:

where Φ1r is “regular waves roll-back angle”, that is the resonant roll amplitude in beam regular waves (heading 90°) having steepness defined in the following sections. The reduction factor 0.7 takes into account the actual irregular nature of the sea.

  4.1.2 The standard procedure for the determination of Φ1r is that by means of tests in regular waves. The use of alternative procedures is permitted. Sufficient justification should be provided to the Administration regarding the selected procedure.

  4.1.3 As a reference in selecting the more suitable procedure it should be noted that:

  • .1 The direct measurement of Φ1r (see paragraph 4.5) can lead to the need of generating very steep waves close to the breaking limit if the ship roll period is very short (see table 4.5.1). Generation of waves with such steepness and sufficient quality can be sometimes difficult due to breaking close to the wavemaker. In addition, in carrying out roll tests, care should be taken during the transient ship behaviour before steady state is reached, because possible large heeling angles (sometimes eventually leading to capsize) can occur. It should be underlined that Φ1r is the steady state maximum roll angle, for this reason capsize during initial transient phase of the test does not necessarily lead to not fulfilment of the criterion. It should be underlined that the methodology does not allow for corrections for scale effects on roll damping, and for this reason large models should be preferred when direct measurements are carried out.

  • .2 The there-step procedure (see paragraph 4.6.1) is the simplest among the two proposed alternative procedures. This method was adopted when original weather criterion was developed. The procedure is sensitive to the quality of execution and analysis of roll decay tests. The procedure allows to execute tests for the determination of the effective wave slope coefficient r, with reasonably small steepnesses, leading to rather simple tests. The methodology allows, in principle, corrections for scale effects on roll damping.

  • .3 The parameter identification technique (PIT) (see paragraph 4.6.2) is a procedure with a large degree of flexibility, that allows to take into account nonlinearities of both damping and restoring, and that provides means for allowing frequency dependence of the "effective wave slope function". The methodology allows, in principle, corrections for scale effects on roll damping. When used with only one series of tests for one single wave steepness, the number of free parameters should be reduced to guarantee robustness of the methodology. The method can take great advantages (regarding robustness and accuracy) from the execution of more than one series of tests at different wave steepness: for this reason the use of at least two different wave steepnesses is strongly recommended. To guarantee correct application of the method, a sufficient basic training of personnel on the theoretical background on which the method is based is needed.


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