11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON HIGHG SPEED VEHICLES, Napoli, Italy, 25 October 2017, vol.1, no.1, pp.1-15
From Design Stage to Operational Performance of an Innovative Lightweight Composite Catamaran
A. D. Alkan
Prof., PhD., Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Naval Arch. and Maritime Faculty, Yıldız Technical University, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey
ABSTRACT: This paper describes the innovative solutions of the design and the consequent operational outcomes of a group of new lightweight catamarans constructed by a local builder Ozata Shipyard for passenger transportation inner and outer the Izmir Bay, Turkey. The first catamaran vessel was delivered to the owner Izmir Metropolitan Municipality in April 2014 and the last one as the 15th vessel in September 2017.
Some of the owner required technical specifications were the following: carbon-composite material for hull and superstructure, reflecting the leading environmental friendly pecularity, passenger capacity of 400 persons, the main dimensions (minimum LOA=37, minimum Bmax=11.5 m.) and the gross tonnage (maximum GT=500), propulsion thwrough twin screw propellers having controllable pitch, minimum range of 600 nautical miles at the service speed, agile manouevring conditions ensured with acceleration (from 0.5 knot to service speed maximum 30 seconds) and deceleration (from service speed to 0.5 knot maximum 20 seconds).
The innovative solutions devoted to the new catamarans being the content of this paper involves information on the principal design features, the resistance characteristics based on model experiments, introduction of alternative computational approaches to reach acceptable resistance coefficients for higher service speeds as well as some limited information on the vessel construction, full scale measurements and operational outcomes of the catamarans respecting the manufacturer's intellectual property rights. The knowledge and the data given in this paper are believed to be useful for naval architects and investors dealing with high speed catamaran ferries that will help them to reach cost effective and environment friendly design solutions which actually represent one of the prior agenda items of the global maritime community.
Keywords: catamaran, design, operation, composite, model experiment