Safety of navigation or widely comprehended safety of a vessel at seawa...

The matter of the paper refers to the dynamic stability of a vessel as an important factor affecting her safety at seaway. Ship’s seakeeping behaviour, which comprises the notion of her stability, is one of the researched key issues leading to the increase in understanding of the safety qualifying factors. Liquid sloshing phenomenon is a result of partly filled tank motions. As a tank moves, it supplies the energy to induce and sustain the fluid motion. The dynamic behaviour of a vessel at seaway is considerably affected by the dynamics of free liquid surfaces, therefore the influence of fluid movement taking place in partly filled tanks on the safety of ship’s exploitation process is emphasized. The paper presents the results of the experimental research and the numerical simulation of the sloshing phenomenon. The research was focused on the computation of the heeling moment affecting the stability of a vessel, especially dynamic effects, which are omitted in obligatory intact ship’s stability regulations nowadays. The experiment performed in the course of the research was carried out in Department of Ship Operation at Gdynia Maritime University. The unique test apparatus was designed and built. It enables to measure dynamic pressures on model tank walls for large oscillation amplitudes, which are characteristic for stormy sea conditions. The numerical simulations of liquid sloshing phenomenon, took into account the viscosity of liquid and the turbulenc