Prediction of Nonlinear Ship Motions in Irregular Waves Using a Viscosity-Equivalent Reduced-Order Model

Abstract

Accurate and efficient prediction of ship motions in severe irregular sea states with double peaked spectra remain a major challenge. This study presents the Viscosity-Equivalent Reduced-Order Method (VEROM) for rapid, engineering level seakeeping prediction in Ochi-Hubble (O-H) double-peak waves. VEROM augments an inviscid-flow solver with amplitude-dependent viscous correction coefficients derived from forced motion with amplifying amplitudes, thereby improving dynamic fidelity while substantially reducing mesh resolution and computational cost. Simulations were validated against towing tank measurements. For a head-sea O-H 9-level sea state condition representative of the South China Sea, VEROM reproduces spectral and time-domain pitch and heave responses with a maximum error of 8%, relative to the viscous reference. After motion correction, key nonlinear events reproduced by VEROM, such as bow emergence and deck green-water, closely match the viscous-flow simulation results. Under comparable settings, VEROM achieves an approximate 21 times reduction in simulation time. These results demonstrate VEROM’s practical value for preliminary design, large-scale parametric studies, and potential near real-time motion forecasting in severe sea states.

Keywords

Ship seakeeping / Irregular waves / Double-peak sea spectrum / Severe sea states / Reduced-order method / VEROM

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