Experimental Investigation of Trimaran Models in Shallow Water

Experiments were conducted at the U.S. Naval Academy's Hydromechanics Laboratory to determine the effect of finite water depth on the resistance, heave, and trim of two different trimaran models. The models were tested at the same length to water depth ratios over a range of Froude numbers in the displacement speed regime. The models were also towed in deep water for comparison. Additionally, the side hulls were adjusted to two different longitudinal positions to investigate possible differences resulting from position. Near critical speed, a large increase in resistance and sinkage was observed, consistent with observations of conventional displacement hulls. The data from the two models are scaled up to a notional 125-m length to illustrate the effects that would be observed for actual ships similar in size to the U.S. Navy's Independence Class Littoral Combat Ship. Faired plots are developed to allow for rapid estimation of shallow water effect on trimaran resistance and under keel clearance. An example is provided.