Comparative study on the resistance characteristics of mono and split hulls

At present, a number of fast advanced marine vehicles are being developed to meet various functional requirements for both commercial and military purposes. The hull forms of these advanced marine vehicles are classified into mono and multi-hulls. Among the multi-hulls, twin hulls are very popular because of their inherent features such as large deck area, better stability, lower wave-making resistance at high speeds and better safety. Twin hull vessels may be formed either by connecting two symmetrical demihulls or by splitting a mono hull into two halves to form two asymmetric demihulls. The features of the split hull vessel can be governed by many factors such as hull without and with tunnel, tunnel dimension, lateral spacing, and staggered position of the demihulls. Since the propulsive power of any marine vehicle depends mainly on its resistance characteristics, it is required to predict the resistance of the vessel either theoretically or experimentally. In the present study, an attempt has been made to carry out both experimental and numerical investigations on the resistance characteristics of a typical mono hull as well as split hull without and with tunnel and different positions of the demihulls. Using the experimental results, a comparative study on the resistance characteristics is studied.