Maneuverability in Restricted Waters: State of the Art

Abstract

An overview of restricted_water maneuvering with heavy emphasis on the course stability of ships in canals is presented, starting with the underlying linear equations and proceeding to the theoretical prediction of the stability derivatives, arriving finally at a careful comparison of theory with published experimental data. Features include an illustration of the use of the hypercircle method in providing upper and lower limits on the solution of the boundary_value problem, a discussion of the role of negative feedback in course stability, and an outline of the technique of plotting the limit cycle on phase_planes to evaluate nonlinear equation constants as a part of a discussion of simple nonlinear models of maneuvering motion.