Uncertainty Analysis for Ship-Bank Interaction Tests in A Circulating Water Channel

This paper presents a systematic model test program to assess the uncertainty of the ship-bank interaction forces, using the planar motion mechanism (PMM) system in a circulating water channel (CWC). Therefore, the uncertainties due to ship-bank distance and water depth are considered, and they are calculated via the partial differentials of the regression formulae based on the test data. The general part of the uncertainty analysis (UA) is performed according to the ITTC recommended procedure 7.5-02-06.04, while the uncertainty of speed is identified as the bias limit due to the flow velocity maldistribution in the CWC. In each example test for the UA of ship-bank interaction forces, 12 repeated measurements were conducted. Results from the UA show that the contribution of water depth error and flow velocity maldistribution to the total uncertainty is noticeable, and the paper explains how they increase with the change of the test conditions. The present study will be useful in understanding the uncertainty regarding the ship-bank interaction force measurement in a CWC.