Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Ocean Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apor

Numerical investigation into the effect of the internal opening

arrangements on motion responses of a damaged ship
XinLong Zhang a, Zhuang Lin b, *, Simone Mancini c, Zhanwei Pang a, Ping Li a, Fei Liu a
a
College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
b
College of Aerospace and Civil Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
c
Department of Aero and Hydrodynamics, Force Technology, Kgs.Lyngby, Lyngby 2800, Denmark

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Both cruise and naval ships have complex subdivisions and compartment connectivity with various opening
Opening arrangements arrangements. To better understand the hydrodynamic performance of a damaged ship, it is necessary to perform
URANS an investigation into the effect of opening combinations on the floodwater propagation and motion responses. In
VOF
this paper, the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is used to visualize the hydrodynamic behaviors in the flooding
DFBI morphing
Flooding process
process. The Unsteady Reynolds Average Navier Stokes (URANS) solver combined with the Dynamic Fluid Body
Motion responses Interaction (DFBI) morphing technique is used to solve the motion responses of the damaged ship and deal with
DTMB 5415 the mesh adaption of the free surface. A benchmarking study about the roll decay of the damaged DTMB 5415
model is performed to validate the accuracy of the numerical approach in dealing with the motion of the
damaged ship. Simulation results show that different opening arrangements result in different flooding forms,
including symmetric and asymmetric flooding. The compressed air impedes the flooding flow in the potential
compartments. Even if the flooding compartments are the same, different flooding paths and overflow paths of
the compressed air affect motion responses of the damaged ship. Moreover, good visualization capability can
predict the flooding development, which can provide necessary information for decision support.

1. Introduction
In the ship design stage, to reduce the weight of the hull and mitigate
the influence of the free surface on the stability, openings such as
manholes and structure lightening holes are usually equipped on the
bulkheads and the internal decks. This makes predicting floodwater
propagation in the damaged condition a particularly challenging task
with the number of possible flooding paths growing exponentially with
the number of internal openings (Karolius et al., 2019). Also, due to the
complex phenomena regarding fluid and structure interactions, it is
difficult to accurately evaluate the remaining survivability and safety of
the damaged ship (Manderbacka and Themelis, 2019). In this case,
feasible approaches are very significant to assess and improve the ship
stability.
For the stability evaluation of the ship, the Second Generation Intact
Stability Criteria developed by International Maritime Organization
(IMO) have been implemented to perform the Direct Stability Assess­
ment (DSA) of the ship (Umeda et al., 2019; Kapsenberg et al., 2019;
Weems et al., 2019; Lu and Gu, 2019). For the survivability evaluation of
the damaged ship, the IMO (IMO 2017a) and SOLAS regulations (IMO
2017b) also set a standard for the damage stability requirements. Also,
many models tests and numerical simulations have been performed to
investigate the coupled motion of the damaged ship and the flooding
water. Next, the research of damage flooding would be, respectively
reviewed from three aspects, including the model tests, the simplified
time-domain simulation methods and the CFD methods.
1.1. Review of the model tests
When a ship is damaged, the ship motion is affected by the flooding
water while the flooding water motion is affected by the ship motion. To
tackle this complicated physical phenomena, the model test is a viable
approach. In Lee et al. (2012) a series of model tests were performed to
establish a reliable database for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
validation, including the free roll decay tests in intact/damaged condi­
tion and the full 6 Degrees of Freedom (DOF) motion responses of the
intact ship in regular beam waves.
Ruponen et al. (2013) considered the air compression in a flooded

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: linzhuang@hrbeu.edu.cn (Z. Lin).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apor.2021.102943
Received 16 January 2021; Received in revised form 13 October 2021; Accepted 25 October 2021
Available online 31 October 2021
0141-1187/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
X. Zhang et al.
tank of a full-scale decommissioned ship, where the ventilation level of
the flooded tank can be altered. The measured water level shows that if
the ventilation is restricted, the air compression can significantly delay
the flooding process. Besides, it can be found that the structure in the
flooded tank, mainly web frames, can have notable effects on the
flooding process, especially in the transient flooding stage.
Domeh et al. (2015) investigated the effects of the compartment
permeability and internal compartment arrangements on the motion
responses of the damaged ship in waves, using a segmented ship model.
The experimental results show that, compared to a stationary ship, when
the ship is travelling at forward speed, the permeability has a greater
effect on the pitch and heave motion responses. Furthermore, results
indicate that the internal compartment arrangement has less influence
on the damaged ship responses than the compartment permeability.
Lim et al. (2015) carried out free-running model tests of a damaged
ship on Safe Return to Port (SRtP) regulations. The focus is to investigate
the propulsion and maneuvering of the damaged ship in the head and
following seas. The results indicate that the flooding behavior in the
damaged compartment augmented the resistance of the ship, resulting
in a lower advance speed than in intact condition.
To better understand the influence of the damage openings on ship
response, Acanfora and Luca (2016) performed an experimental
campaign on a passenger ferry hull for still water and beam regular
waves at zero speed. Results for the experiments underline that the roll
behavior of a damaged ship is affected by not only the position of the
damage opening but also its size.
Siddiqui et al. (2019, Siddiqui et al., 2020) present a detailed series
of experiments performed with a thin-walled prismatic hull form in a
wave flume. By carrying out the forced oscillatory heave tests in calm
water and free-floating tests in regular beam-sea waves, the effect of the
damage opening on the model’s hydrodynamic loads is examined by
comparing with the intact section. And, the effect of wave parameters,
initial loading condition, flooding forms, damage size, and air
compressibility on the ship behavior is demonstrated.
Generally, these experimental tests introduced above can accurately
analyze the effect of different parameters on the flooding process and
motion responses of a damaged ship. But, limitations such as the facility
demand, the model preparation, and physical constraints (scale effect
and dynamic similarity) impetus to the development of numerical
simulation tools. According to the current situation, the numerical
simulation tools can be mainly divided into two categories, namely the
Time Domain Numerical Simulation (TDNS) approach based on the
simplified mathematical models and the CFD methods based on the
URANS solver. They are more advantageous to deal with the progressive
flooding and solve the motion responses of the damaged ship efficiently
and economically than model tests.
1.2. Review of the time domain simulations
Explicit and fast assessment of the damage severity is extremely
important for timely making correct decisions on evacuation and
abandonment. On this background, many fast Time Domain simulation
methods are proposed. Dankowski and Kruger (2012) used a quasi-static
approach in the time domain to fast simulate the flooding of the inner
subdivision and the resulting equilibrium floating position at each in­
termediate time step. The water fluxes through the openings are
computed by a hydraulic model based on Bernoulli’s equation. Based on
the new distribution of the flooding water and the corresponding filling
levels in the flooded compartments, the resulting equilibrium floating
position is updated.
Manderbacka et al. (2015) presented a non-linear time-domain
calculation method to fast simulate the fully coupled ship-floodwater
motion. Floodwater motion dynamics are based on the lumped mass
method with a moving free surface. To well predict transient flooding in
the undivided compartment, the inflow momentum flux is considered.
Through comparative analysis with the experimental data, the
2
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
applicability of the presented numerical method is validated. The roll
decay and transient flooding are well predicted.
Ruponen et al. (2017) proposed a fast assessment method of the
breach size based on Bernoulli’s equation. When a flooding level is
given, the flooding volume in the flooded compartment is calculated by
the 3D geometry and measured angles (heel and pitch). Although there
are some sources of inaccuracy, the constant discharge coefficient of 0.6
is considered to be well-justified. The obtained results can provide
reliable damage opening information for the subsequent prediction of
the damage ship motion.
Acanfora et al. (2019) also developed a fast simulation method for
damaged ship dynamics based on the lumped mass approach. The
method applied to both the transient flooding stage and the dynamic
behavior of a flooded ship in regular waves. Based on the dissipation of
the energy of standing waves in rectangular rooms, the viscous effects in
the floodwater dynamics are implemented. The obtained simulation
results are validated against the available experimental data.
Bu and Gu (2019) proposed one feasible nonlinear time-domain
prediction model for the damaged ship motion, which combines the
advantages of potential theory in calculating ship motion and CFD
viscous theory in calculating the floodwater flow in the compartments.
The research shows that the proposed unified model can both guarantee
simulation accuracy and improve calculation efficiency. It has been
proven that the Time Domain simulation methods mentioned above
require low computational effort and have reasonable reliability.
However, they have inherent limitations to assess non-standard hull
geometries and non-linear phenomena. These non-linear phenomena are
mostly related to the water viscosity, such as eddy making, turbulent
boundary layer and viscous roll damping.
1.3. Review of the CFD simulations
Combining the considerations of Sections 1.1 and 1.2, CFD simula­
tions are widely acknowledgd as a credible enough alternative to
concern the complex flooding dynamic problems in the future (Niotis
et al., 2019) with the computing power and resources in constant and
great improvement. Begovic et al. (2015) presented an investigation into
the roll damping of the DTMB 5415 naval ship model in both intact and
two compartments symmetric damaged scenarios. The verification of
the numerical simulation precision and the sensitivity analysis on time
step, mesh type, and turbulence models were performed. The detailed
simulation description is valuable for doing similar works.
Sadat-Hosseini et al. (2016) assessed URANS capabilities for hydro­
dynamic behaviors of a zero-speed damaged passenger ship, including
the flooding procedure in calm water, roll decay in calm water, and
motions in regular beam waves for various wavelengths. The results
show that even though the computational effort of CFD simulation is
high, the predicting motion responses validate well with the experi­
mental data.
Gao et al. (2018) analyzed the effect of the airflow on the flooding
and ship sinking, three ventilation levels are set to the damaged
compartment, including full ventilation, partial ventilation, and the
airtight case. The VOF method is applied to capture the flooding process
while the dynamic mesh technique is used to deal with the sinking
motion. The simulation results indicate that the restricted ventilation
level impedes water ingress and increases the time to flooding in com­
parison with the full ventilation case.
Ming et al. (2018) introduced a numerical approach based on a
weekly compressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method.
The focus is on the motion responses of the damaged ship in transversal
regular waves. The simulation results indicated that compared with the
opening towards the incident waves, the incident waves away from the
damaged opening will increase the opening depth and accelerate the
flooding speed. Thus, the damaged ship sinks rapidly.
Zhang et al. (2019) visualized the flooding process of multiple
compartments based on the volume of fluid method. The obtained
X. Zhang et al. Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943

flooding time and flooding sequence can provide necessary information

∂ρ ∂
to support the appropriate rescue management and evacuation options. + ⋅(ρui ) = 0 (1)
∂t ∂xi
However, the damaged ship is stationary, and motions due to the dy­
namic flooding are not considered. Zhang et al. (2020a) implemented
∂(ρui ) ∂ ( ) ∂τ ∂P
the URANS solver to monitor the three degrees of freedom motion, + ρui uj = ij − + ρg (2)
∂t ∂xi ∂xj ∂xi
studying the effect of symmetric and asymmetric flooding on the dam­
age stability of a ship. The simulation results show that the transverse ∂(ρT) ∂
[
∂ λ ∂T
]
asymmetric flooding results in a large heel angle, increasing the risk of + (ρui T) = (3)
∂t ∂xi ∂xj Cp ∂xj
capsizing. Therefore, to ensure the floating capacity of a damaged ship,
transverse symmetric flooding should be guaranteed as much as With
possible. Zhang et al. (2020b) used the VOF method in conjunction with ( )
∂ui ∂uj 2
the overset mesh technique to study the effect of side damage and bot­ τij = μeff − − δij k (5)
∂xj ∂xi 3
tom damage on the flooding process and motion responses of the
damaged ship. Through comparative analysis, it can be found that the
μeff = μ + μt (6)
rolling motions are affected by the damage position, however, the pitch
motions are consistent. And, due to the different damage positions, the where t is the time; xi (i = 1–3) is the coordinate component; ui is the
hydrodynamic behaviors in the flooding process are characterized. In mean velocity component in the xi-direction; ρ = αρ1 + (1 − α)ρ2 is the
general, these CFD methods mentioned above provide a great conve­ effective density; ρ1 and ρ2 are the densities of water and air, respec­
nience for studying the complex hydrodynamic behaviors in the flooding tively; μ = αμ1 + (1 − α)μ2 is the effective viscosity; μ1 and μ2 are the
process. Based on the understanding of the remaining survivability, the viscosities of water and air, respectively; α is the fluid volume fraction,
ship’s safety can be enhanced. which is set to 1 in the water region, 0 in the air region and between
0 and 1 for the interface; P is the pressure; g is the gravitational accel­
1.4. Research content of this paper eration; T is the temperature; λ is the thermal conductivity; Cp is the
specific heat capacity; δij is the Kronecker delta; k is the turbulence ki­
Generally, many parameters that might affect the motion responses netic energy; μt is the turbulent viscosity. Finally, the state equation of
of the damaged ship have been studied in previous model tests and the ideal gas is employed for the closure of equations and reads as
numerical simulations, including the flooding forms, air compressibility, follows:
damage size, compartment permeability and encountered waves et.al.
However, the previous studies are mostly focused on specific scenarios P = ρRT (7)
to investigate the single influencing factor. A combination of several
factors is rarely studied, especially for involving multiple compartments Where R is the ideal gas constant.
and openings. Based on this consideration, this paper attempts to show
the application of CFD techniques to investigate the combined effects 2.2. Governing equations of the damaged ship motion
caused by different opening arrangements on the flooding process and
motion responses of a damaged ship. The involved factors include In the simulation, motions of the damaged ship are calculated in
flooding forms, air compressibility, flooding paths, overflowing paths of response to the resultant force and moment. The damaged ship is
compressed air and the down-flooding. considered to be a rigid body, therefore, it is sufficient to solve the
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the governing motions of the damaged ship for the center of mass. The governing
equations of the fluid flow and the damaged ship motion. Section 3 in­ equations of the translations in the x, y, and z directions and the rota­
troduces the implemented models with different opening combinations. tions about the x, y, and z axes are, respectively shown in Eqs. (8) and
These models can be defined from the perspectives of the flooding form, (9). In absence of any physical constraint, the damaged ship can be free
down-flooding, the flooding path, and the overflowing path of the to move in six degrees of freedom (DOF). However, if only some DOF
compressed air. Section 4 exposes the numerical modeling and settings. motions are meaningful for the research, others can be restricted to
To verify the accuracy of the applied numerical approach in solving the avoid unnecessary calculations.
damaged ship’s motion, Section 5 performs a benchmarking study about dv
the roll decay of the damaged David Taylor Model Basin (DTMB) 5415 m =f (8)
dt
model. Section 6 presents the simulation results and discusses the
properties of different flooding cases. Based on the obtained results, dω
M + ω × Mω = n (9)
main conclusions are summarized in Section 7. Finally, the limitations of dt
the present study and recommendations for future researches are ( ∑ )
enclosed in ``Limitations and future researches". Moreover, all the simu­ f = fr f p + f τ + f g + f ext (10)
lation cases in this paper are performed on the commercial CFD code
( )
Siemens PLM STAR-CCM+. ∑
n = fr np + nτ + next (11)

2. Governing equations
2.1. Governing equations of the fluid flow
The present study has been carried out considering the air and water
as compressible and incompressible fluids, respectively. Indeed, the air
phase is set as the ideal gas to consider the effect of the air compress­
ibility on the flooding process. The fluid flow is governed by the known
Unsteady Reynolds-Average Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations which
are derived from conservation laws of physics. The fundamental con­
servation equations of mass, momentum and energy described in the
Cartesian coordinate system are as Eqs. (1)–(3).
Where m is the mass of the damaged ship, v is the velocity of the mass
center, ω is the angular velocity of the damaged ship. M is the moments
⇀
of inertia matrix, which is defined by a symmetric 3 × 3 matrix and
composed of six variables; principal moments (Mxx , Myy , Mzz ) and off-
diagonal moment (Mxy , Mxz , Myz ).
As presented in Eqs. (10) and (11), the resultant force f and moment
n are calculated as a function of both pressure forces (f p and np ) and
shear forces (f τ and nτ ) acting on the damaged hull. External forces and
∑ ∑
moments ( f ext and next ) can be defined and contribute in the
summation of forces, e.g. gravity (f g ), flooding forces or propeller
models. To reduce the transient inaccuracies in initial conditions, a

3
X. Zhang et al. Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943

ramping factor fr is applied. comparison with Case 2. Also, it can be found that the possible flooded
compartments in Cases 4–7 are consistent. However, due to the different
3. Model description opening combinations, the flooding paths of the water ingress are
different. At the same time, the overflow paths of the compressed air in
Several flooding cases have been carried out for the well-known the flooded compartments are also different. These differences will
benchmark US Navy Destroyer Hull DTMB 5415. Table 1 presents the affect the lasting flooding time and the quantity of the flooding water.
main dimensions of the applied model scale (1/25) while Fig. 1 shows The expected flooding characteristics of each damage scenario are pre­
the damaged hull and the internal compartment arrangements. sented in Table 2. The specific comparison results are detailed in Section
It is worth noting that the used model is based on the following as­ 5.
sumptions. Firstly, the effect of the superstructure on the weight and
gravity of the hull is not taken into account. Only the motion of the 4. Numerical modeling and setting
damaged bare hull is considered. Secondly, the flooded compartments
are modeled to be empty. It does not consider the effect of the 4.1. Simulation domain and physical models
compartment permeability on the flooding process and the coupled
motion of the damaged hull. In the actual damage scenario, there will be As shown in Fig. 3, the damaged ship is placed in a virtual simulation
some obstacles (bracket, stiffener, cargo, staircase, escape trunk and tank divided by the free surface. In the simulation setting, the accurate
equipment et.al) in the flooded compartments. These obstacles may height of the free surface needs to be set according to the draught cor­
change the flooding path of the ingress water, affect the flooding responding to the weight of the damaged hull. This can ensure that the
quantity and the dynamic response of the damaged ship. Thirdly, the damaged hull will not experience the transient heave motion due to the
damaged hull is considered to be a rigid body, ignoring the deformation difference between the hull weight and actual displacement. It is worth
and failure of the internal components under floodwater pressure. mentioning that in the simulation initialization, the damaged hull is
However, the leakage and collapse of non-watertight structures inside placed horizontally by default. In this case, when the simulation runs,
the breached compartments can have significant effects on the inter­ the damaged hull will experience transient pitch motion due to the
mediate stages of flooding (Jalonen et al., 2017). Besides, to study the uneven weight distribution in the ship bow and stern.
effect of the compressed air on the flooding process, an appropriate According to the ITTC Procedures and Guidelines (ITTC 2011)
ventilation hole is equipped on the upper deck of the damaged “Practical Guidelines for Ship CFD Application” and Mancini et al.
compartment so that compressed air can have a possible overflow path. (2018), the dimensions of the domain are presented in Fig. 3, and the
The dimensions of the damaged opening, internal openings, and venti­ inlet, outlet, top, and bottom boundaries are set to be the velocity inlet.
lation holes are shown in Fig. 1. The internal openings (1–3) use the The hidden side boundaries are set to be a pressure outlet.
same size 100 × 60mm, and the size of the damage opening is 100 × According to the STAR-CCM+ Users’ Guide Version 12.02;
70mm. CD-Adapco (2012), the Realizable Two-Layer K-Epsilon model is applied
As shown in Fig. 1, the flooding region involves three potentially to solve the Reynolds stress problem, which offers the most mesh flex­
flooded compartments, and three internal openings can produce 23 = ibility and is one of the more robust turbulence models with a wide
8 possible permutations of openings. Since the flooding scenario only range of application with a high level of accuracy. It can be used with the
with opening 3 is consistent with Case 1 with no opening, there are same meshes as the high-Reynolds number versions.
seven valid flooding scenarios, which are, respectively shown in Fig. 2. Furthermore, an implicit solver is used to solve the relationship be­
These flooding scenarios can be used for comparative analysis to tween the time step and the iterative step. Based on the sensitivity
investigate the effects of different opening combinations on the flooding analysis of the time step in Mancini et al. (2018), the time step 0.002 s
process and stability of the damaged ship. It can be found from Cases 1 with 10 iterative numbers is set in the simulation.
and 2 that when the longitudinal bulkhead is equipped with opening 1, To avoid the reflecting wave effect on the motion responses of the
the flooding water can propagate from the damaged compartment to the damaged ship in the flooding process, the damping region is set in the
adjacent compartment. Opening 2 in Case 3 allows the flooding water to inlet, outlet, and side boundaries. The damping region can dissipate the
flow down to the adjacent bottom compartment. The generated flooding energy due to the fluctuation of the free surface, which will guarantee
scenario can be compared with Case 1, and the effect of down-flooding numerical stability and the convergence of the simulation results.
on the damage stability can be analyzed. Similarly, opening 3 in Case 5 By default, the potentially flooded compartments are filled with the
also allows the flooding water to flow downwards, producing a same water level as the external free surface. Therefore, the User Defi­
nition Field Function (UDFF) model is needed to initialize the distribu­
tion of the air and water in the flooded compartments. In this case, the
Table. 1 potentially flooded compartments are filled with the air in the initial
The main dimensions of the tested hull. state, and the flooding process can be visualized. The details of the
Parameters Particulars Full- Model defined code have been elaborated are available in Zhang et al. (2019).
scale scale About the computational effort, in this study, all the simulation cases are
Length Overall LOA (m) 153.300 6.132
with 3 Million cells and require almost 8 days to complete the 60 s
Length between perpendiculars Lpp (m) 142.200 5.688
simulation using an Intel i9-9940X, 14 cores, 3.30GHZ.
Breadth at Waterline BWL (m) 19.082 0.763
Depth to public spaces deck D(m) 12.470 0.4988 4.2. Motion specification and mesh arrangement
Design draft T (m) 6.150 0.246
Volume V (m3 ) 8635 0.553 For simulating the motion of the damaged ship according to the
Maximum section area AX (m2 ) 96.7923 0.155 forces acting on it, two alternative motion specifications can be selected,
Block coefficient CB 0.505 0.505 namely “DFBI rotation and translation” and “DFBI morphing”. The two
Prismatic coefficient CP 0.616 0.616 motion specifications have their targeted simulation cases. As shown in
Midship section coefficient CM 0.815 0.815 Fig. 4, to better deal with the free surface in the flooding process, a
Height of metacenter above the keel line KM(m) 9.493 0.380 refined mesh block is usually set around the free surface. When DFBI
Height of center of gravity above keel line KG(m) 7.555 0.302 rotation and translation is specified to the background region, the
Longitudinal center of gravity LCG(m) 70.137 2.805 background region will follow the motion of the damaged hull, and each
Metacentric height GM(m) 1.938 0.078
mesh of the background region will maintain a constant-size hexahedral

4
X. Zhang et al. Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the damaged hull.

Fig. 2. Opening arrangements and resulting flooded compartments.

surface can not be guaranteed, making the simulation results fluctuate

Table. 2
or not converge.
Expected flooding characteristics with different opening arrangements.
In response to the above-mentioned problem that when the large
Case Opening Sym/Asym Down- Flooding Overflow rolling motion occurs, DFBI rotation and translation can not deal with
flooding sequence path
the mesh adaption of the free surface, DFBI morphing will be a better
1 None Asymmetric No C1 VH choice. It redistributes mesh vertices in response to the movement of
2 O1 Symmetric No C1-C2 VH /O1
control points. The morphing specification uses control points and their
3 O2 Asymmetric Yes C1-C3 VH /O2
4 O1, O2 Symmetric Yes C1-C3-C2 VH /O1/O2 associated displacements to generate an interpolation field throughout
5 O1, O3 Symmetric Yes C1-C2-C3 VH /O1/O3 the region which can then be used to displace the actual vertices of the
6 O2, O3 Symmetric Yes C1-C3-C2 VH /O2/O3 mesh. In this case, the background region is always stationary.
7 O1, O2, Symmetric Yes C1-C3-C2 VH /O1/O2/ When the damaged ship motions due to the flooding, the mesh will
O3 O3
be morphed as shown in Fig. 5b. The free surface can mostly be kept in
the refined block (brown) to ensure the convergence of the simulation
shape as shown in Fig. 5a. results.
The free surface is always stationary. If the damaged hull only ex­ However, compared with DFBI rotation and translation, DFBI
periences a small rolling motion, the refined block (brown) will heel morphing requires more computational efforts. Therefore, it is necessary
slightly around the free surface, and the mesh density of the free surface to take an appropriate motion specification to investigate the targeted
can be guaranteed. However, when asymmetric flooding occurs, the simulation case. When dealing with a small rolling case like symmetric
flooding water accumulated on the damaged side will result in a large flooding, DFBI rotation and translation specification can guarantee both
heel angle. In this case, the large heel angle will make the free surface be calculation accuracy and less computational efforts.
out of the rotated refined block (blue). The mesh density of the free For processing large rolling case like asymmetric flooding, DFBI

5
X. Zhang et al. Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943

Fig. 3. Simulation domain dimensions and applied boundary conditions.

Fig. 4. Description of DFBI rotation andtranslation.

morphing specification can guarantee good simulation accuracy at least. thinning on the boundaries is the key to ensuring the simulation
It is worth mentioning that when DFBI morphing is used to deal with the convergence. The usual method is to set the thin factor values on the
large rolling case (usually less than 30◦ ), how to reduce the mesh over- morphed boundaries to be 1, which means that all boundary mesh

6
X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 5. Mesh visualization of two motion specifications.
vertices are used. Then, the number of boundary mesh vertices and the
required calculation time can be reduced. Considering that the damaged
ship in the cases shown in Fig. 2 always experiences asymmetric flooding
in the early flooding stage, DFBI morphing is applied to monitor the
motion responses of the damaged ship and deal with the mesh adaption
of the free surface in this paper. Fig. 6 presents the mesh generation in
the simulation domain. It can be found that the meshes near the free
surface and the hull are refined to improve the mesh quality. And, to
capture the complex hydrodynamic behaviors in the flooding process,
the trim meshes in the flooding region also need to be refined. Moreover,
surface and volumetric refinement are set on the local parts with a large
curvature, such as the ventilation hole and the damage opening, which
can ensure that the generated surface is consistent with the original
geometric surface.
4.3. Visualization analysis of the free surface
In the mesh discretization, the domain is divided into non-
overlapping cells to yield a hexahedral mesh system. The VOF multi­
phase model is implemented to capture the interface between water and
air. The distribution of water or air and the position of the interface are
described by the phase volume fraction αi . The volume fraction of the
Fig. 6. Mesh arrangement in the simulation domain.
7
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
specified phase i is defined by Eq. (12). Eq. (13) presents the criterion
that the volume fractions of all phases in a cell must sum up to 1.
Vi
αi = (12)
V
∑
N
αi = 1 (13)
i=1
Where Vi is the volume of phase i, V is the volume of the cell, N is the
total number of the phases. The value of the volume fraction determines
the presence of the phase in a cell. If αi = 0, it means that the cell is void
of phase i. If αi = 1, it means that the cell is filled with phase i.
If 0 < αi < 1, it means that there is an interface in the cell.
As shown in Fig. 7, mesh with higher precision is generated in the
damaged compartment to capture the flooding flow. The mesh density
difference causes a height difference of the free surface in regions 1 and
2.
This requires that the mesh near the free surface should be individ­
ually refined. In this way, the same mesh density can avoid the step
effect in the simulation initialization. For the DFBI morphing specifi­
cation applied in this paper, although it can mostly deal with the mesh
adaption of the free surface, there is still a limitation that the mesh
X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 7. Relationship between the mesh size and free surface.
morphing may also cause a slight difference in the final mesh size.
When the flooding finishes, the height of the free surface in the
damaged compartment may be higher or lower than the external free
surface. To compensate for the hydrostatic pressure difference, the
solver continuously allows the flow flux to enter and exit the damaged
opening. Hence, the damaged ship keeps in a slight motion.
5. Benchmarking study
In essence, motions of the damaged ship are caused by the action of
forces, which may include the inertial force, the wave force or the
flooding force et.al. If the present numerical approach can well deal with
motions of the damaged ship in one specific damage scenario, it would
handle other damage cases with a good accuracy. Based on this
consideration, aiming to test the performance of the numerical approach
in dealing with the motion of the damaged ship, the present method is
firstly applied to simulate the roll decay for the damaged bare hull
DTMB 5415. The experimental results are available in Begovic et al.
(2015). The experimental campaign with two compartments symmetric
damaged scenario is performed at zero speed at the Kelvin Hydrody­
namics Lab. Two cases with an initial amplitude of 13.5 and 19.1◦ are
tested in still water. In this section, the roll decay with the initial heel
angle of 13.5◦ is used as the benchmarking study.
Fig. 8 visualizes the sloshing behavior during the roll decay, which
generates waves inside and outside the compartment due to the flooding
dynamics. The roll decay of experimental data and numerical data are
compared in Fig. 9. It can be found that obtained numerical results
showed a reasonable level of accuracy.
6. Simulation results and discussion
6.1. Symmetric and asymmetric flooding
As shown in Fig. 10, the longitudinal bulkhead in Case 1 is not
Fig. 8. The sloshing behavior in the damaged compartment during the roll decay.
8
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
provided with the opening 1. The flooding water gushing from the
damaged opening will firstly impact the internal deck, and then rush the
longitudinal bulkhead in a short time, forming the water splashing,
rolling, and other hydrodynamic behaviors. Due to the obstructive effect
of the longitudinal bulkhead, the flooding water can only accumulate in
the damaged compartment, resulting in asymmetric flooding.
For Case 2 in Fig. 11, the opening in the longitudinal bulkhead allows
the flooding water to flow to the adjacent intact compartment (C2), but
the final flooding is not completely symmetric. Analyzing from the
compartment structure and air compressibility, the main reason is that
opening 1 acts as both the flooding hole and the ventilation hole for the
intact compartment. Compressed air overflowing from opening 1 will
prevent the ingress water from flooding the whole compartment
smoothly. From the two pictures at 11.1 and 11.2 s in Fig. 11, it can be
seen that the overflowed compressed air hinders the propagation of the
flooding water. With the development of flooding, when the water
height of the intact compartment is higher than the upper edge of
opening 1, there is no potential overflow path for the compressed air.
Although there is a difference in the water height between the adjacent
compartments, the flooding will finish, resulting in the final incom­
pletely symmetric state.
The presented visualization of the flooding process can be used to
explain the motion differences in Fig. 12. For Case 1, under the inclining
moment generated by the asymmetric flooding, the damaged ship would
only roll towards the damaged side. With the continuous flooding, when
the positions of gravity and buoyancy center are in a line, negative
righting lever (GZ) corresponding to the inclining moment increases to
zero, and the flooding is over. At this time, the heel angle stabilizes at
about 8◦ .
For Case 2, when the water level in the damaged compartment is
lower than the lower edge of the longitudinal bulkhead opening, the
flooding water will temporarily accumulate on the damaged side. The
inclining moment generated by the temporal asymmetric flooding also
makes the damaged ship only roll towards the damaged side. However,
X. Zhang et al. Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943

Fig. 9. Comparison between experimental and numerical data.

Fig. 10. The flooding process of Case 1.

Fig. 11. The flooding process of Case 2.

when the flooding is about 5 s, the water level in the damaged gradually offset the asymmetric effect due to the early flooding accu­
compartment is higher than the lower edge of the longitudinal bulkhead mulation. GZ value also changes from negative to positive, and the
opening. The flooding water flowing to the intact compartment will inclining moment changes to the righting moment. The righting moment

9
X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 12. Motion comparison between Cases 1 and 2.
makes the damaged ship conversely roll towards the intact side. This
explains why the roll motion curve of Case 2 firstly has a downward
tendency before 5 s, then gradually rises, and finally stabilizes 2.8◦ . As
stated above, the final flooding distribution of Case 2 is in an incom­
pletely symmetric state. This is also related to GZ value. In the offsetting
flooding process, when the changing gravity and buoyancy center are in
a line, although the damaged ship still inclines, the further flooding will
not be able to continue. Finally, the damaged ship stables with a certain
heel angle.
For the pitch motion, the damaged ship in both Cases 1 and 2 has a
transient pitch motion. This is because in the initial state, the damaged
ship is horizontally placed in the longitudinal direction. When the
simulation runs, due to the inherent nature of the uneven weight dis­
tribution between the bow and stern, the damaged ship would pitch
towards the heavier head (bow). Moreover, since the damaged
compartment in this paper is selected near the midship, the flooding
difference between the symmetric and asymmetric cases has little effect
on the pitch motion. The final trim angles are stable at about 1.2◦ , which
will not pose a threat to the safety of the damaged ship and can be
ignored. Finally, for the heave motion, the symmetric flooding allows
more ingress water to flood the possible compartments, making the
damaged ship heave more eventually. The draft of the damaged ship
increases in response.
Through the analysis of the motion responses, it can be found that in
the same damaged condition, the larger heel angle due to the asym­
metric flooding is more likely to threaten the safety of the damaged ship,
making the damaged ship capsize. Therefore, when asymmetric flooding
occurs, the appropriate measures allowing the flooding water to form
the symmetric flooding are helpful to improve the safety and recover­
ability of the damaged ship. However, such emergency measures must
be planned on the fact that the additional unnatural-flooding generating
the symmetric flooding will not cause the damaged ship to sink.
6.2. Compressed air
It can be seen from Case 2 that the compressed air overflowing from
the vertical opening 1 in the longitudinal bulkhead has an inhibitory
effect on the horizontal flooding flow. Similar to this, the horizontal
opening 2 on the internal deck also inhibits the downward flooding, and
10
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
the related hydrodynamic behaviors caused by the compressed air flow
is more obvious.
As shown in Figs. 13 and 14, the formation and destruction of
compressed air bubbles are shown. It can found that these bubbles are
always generated near opening 2 and burst on the free surface near the
longitudinal bulkhead. Furthermore, the overflow of compressed air will
result in intermittent flooding. From the two pictures at 6.6 s in Fig. 13
and at 9.1 s in Fig. 14, the phenomenon of the flooding stagnation due to
the compressed air can be seen. However, when the compressed air
bubble leaves the proximity of the opening, the flooding will continue.
In this case, the cyclic process of the bubble generation and overflow will
always exist until the flooding process finishes.
According to the expected setting in Fig. 2, compared with the
asymmetric flooding in Case 3, the ingress water in Case 6 will be able to
flood the intact compartment (C2), forming symmetric flooding. But, in
the practice, although the opening 3 is set, the final flooding is still
asymmetric due to the effect of the compressed air. Similar to Case 1,
due to the negative GZ value, the inclining moment generated by
asymmetric flooding will only drive the damaged ship to the damaged
side. As shown in Fig. 15, the motion responses of Cases 3 and 6 are the
same, and the damage stability in Case 6 has not been improved at all.
Therefore, to ensure the safety of the damaged ship and people onboard,
it is necessary to design an effective symmetric flooding path consid­
ering the inherent nature of the compressed air. Regarding the analysis
of the air compression, this can be also applied to explain a criterion for
unsinkability. That is, if the damaged ship is predicted to sink due to the
specified damage, the airtightness of the potential flooding compart­
ments should be maintained as much as possible. This is helpful to
extend the flooding time and reduce the flooding volume.
The analysis above may add more factors to SOLAS calculations like
in Ruponen et al. (2018). Traditional SOLAS calculations are based on
the fact that all the potential compartments will be flooded without
considering any nonlinear hydrodynamic behavior. The final floating
state of the damaged ship is solved by a quasi-static method. Through
the CFD method applied in this paper, two influencing factors can be
further taken into account. The first is to dynamically visualize the entire
flooding process, while the floating state at any flooding moment can be
predicted. The second is to consider the effect of the air compression on
the flooding evaluation.
X. Zhang et al. Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943

Fig. 13. The flooding process of Case 3.

Fig. 14. The flooding process of Case 6.

Fig. 15. Motion comparison between Cases 3 and 6.

11
X. Zhang et al.
Taking Case 6 as an example, according to the traditional SOLAS
calculations, the intact compartment (C2) is considered to be flooded by
default. The final flooding would be symmetric. The damaged ship can
maintain a good floating state. However, in actual condition, due to the
obstructive effect of the compressed air, there is no way to allow the
ingress water to flood the intact compartment. The flooding is asym­
metric, and the damaged ship maintains a large heel angle. The obtained
results are contrary to the results by the traditional calculation. In this
case, the opposite results will drive the emergency personnel to adopt
different rescue management measures. For a good floating state under
symmetric flooding, the emergency personnel should consider how to
safely return the damaged ship to port. But for the asymmetric flooding
with a large heel angle, the first is to make an appropriate ballast water
allocation plan to balance the inclination. Therefore, it is essential to
reasonably consider the influencing factor to guarantee the reliability of
the damage assessment.
6.3. Flooding path of the ingress water
This section will detail the influence of the flooding paths on the
stability of the damaged ship under the premise of the same flooding
region. As shown in Figs. 16–18, different opening arrangements result
in characterized flooding sequences, and the motion responses shown in
Fig. 19 are also distinguished.
In Case 4, the transient ingress water floods both the damaged
compartment (C1) and the bottom compartment (C3). Under the action
of the gravity and the obstructive effect of the longitudinal bulkhead, the
flooding water firstly accumulates in the damaged compartment and the
bottom compartment in the first 5 s, forming asymmetric flooding. From
the roll motion of Case 4 in Fig. 19, it can be found that due to the
negative GZ value generated by asymmetric flooding, the damaged ship
rolls towards the damaged side for the first 5 s, and the corresponding
heel angle has gradually increased. When the water height of the
damaged compartment is higher than the lower edge of opening 1, the
ingress water floods the adjacent intact compartment, forming sym­
metric flooding and generating the righting moment. As a result, the
damaged ship heels towards the intact side, and the heel angle gradually
decrease. However, due to the effect of the compressed air on the intact
compartment and the bottom compartment, the subsequent flooding
cannot all be used to make up for the flooding difference caused by the
previous asymmetric flooding stage. More flooding accumulates in the
damaged compartment, and the heel angle stabilizes at about 3.5◦ .
Unlike Case 4, the flooded compartment in Case 5 is not equipped
with the opening 2. The transient flooding water can only accumulate in
the damaged compartment in the first 5 s. In case 4, the water flowing
down to the bottom compartment in the transient stage and the subse­
quent water flowing to the adjacent intact compartment may alleviate
the unbalanced moment caused by the transient asymmetric flooding. In
Fig. 16. The flooding process of Case 4.
12
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
Case 5, when the water height of the damaged compartment is higher
than the lower edge of opening 1, the flooding water entering from
opening 1 will flood the bottom compartment through opening 3.
Because the damaged ship in the early flooding stage was in the asym­
metric state, the damaged ship rolls towards the damaged side. This will
cause the flooding water flowing to the bottom compartment to accu­
mulate on the damaged side firstly, which will exacerbate the effect of
the asymmetric flooding on the roll motion. This also explains why the
maximum heel angle of Case 5 can reach about 6◦ in the flooding pro­
cess, while the maximum heel angle of Case 4 is about 4◦ . With the
continuous spread of the flooding, when the flooding water to the bot­
tom compartment maximizes the asymmetric effect, the subsequent
flooding will balance the motion of the damaged ship. The heel angles
gradually decrease until it stabilizes at about 3◦ . There will not be a
phenomenon as Case 4 that the heel angle firstly increases, then de­
creases, and then increase again to stabilize at a value.
Finally, similar to Case 4, the transient flooding of Case 7 also floods
both the damaged compartment and the bottom compartment. How­
ever, since openings 1–3 are set at the same time, the flooding of
compartment 2 is easier than Cases 4 and 5. As shown in the picture at
6.5 s in Fig. 18, when the flooding water in the damaged compartment
fills the bottom compartment, the water will flood compartment 2
through openings 1 and 3 together. It can also be found that the
maximum heel angle of Case 7 in the flooding process is only about 3◦ . It
is only caused by the water level difference between the damaged
compartment and the intact compartment. In the early stage, the
asymmetric effect caused by the asymmetric accumulation in the
damaged compartment, and the bottom compartment is smaller. This is
because more openings make it easier for the flooding water to spread,
and the stability of the damaged ship is better. Until the end of the
flooding, the heel angle in Case 7 stabilizes at about 2.5◦ .
From the above analysis, it can be found that different flooding paths
have a great influence on the roll motion of the damaged ship. However,
judging from the pitch motion curve in Fig. 19, as Figs. 12 and 15, since
the damages compartment is selected near the midship, the influence of
the flooding form, the flooding volume, and the flooding path on the
pitch motion is small, basically negligible. Even if the flooded com­
partments are the same, the final heel angles of Case 4, Case 5, and Case
7 stabilize at 3.5◦ , 3.0◦ , and 2.5◦ , respectively. The reason for the
incompletely symmetric flooding is the air cushion produced by the
compressed air in the intact compartment and the bottom compartment.
Secondly, the difference in the final heel angles between the three cases
is due to the different flooding paths that make the overflow of the
compressed air from the bottom compartment different. It can be seen
from the last flooding pictures in Figs. 16–18 that the size of the final air
cushion is different. Compared with Cases 5 and 7, the compressed air in
the bottom compartment of Case 4 escapes in a more difficult way. The
compressed air that does not overflow creates a large air cushion. The
X. Zhang et al. Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943

Fig. 17. The flooding process of Case 5.

Fig. 18. The flooding process of Case 7.

Fig. 19. Motion comparison between Cases 4, 5, and 7.

unbalance moment caused by the flooding difference between the left bottom compartment is easier. The compressed air in the bottom
and right sides is more obvious. The final heel angle is the largest. compartment can freely overflow from opening 3 without being
For Case 7, due to the setting of opening 3, the flooding process of the restricted by space. In this case, the compressed air in the bottom

13
X. Zhang et al.
compartment can be eliminated. It can be seen from the last flooding
picture in Fig. 18 that there is no air cushion in the bottom compartment.
The unbalanced moment caused by the flooding difference between the
left and right sides is the smallest, and the final heel angle is also the
smallest. Moreover, the size of the air cushion has a certain effect on the
heave motion of the damaged ship. From the heave motion curves in
Fig. 19, the air cushion in Case 4 is the largest. The flooding volume is
the least, and the damaged ship sinks the least. There is no air cushion in
the bottom compartment of Case 7. The flooding volume is the largest,
and the sinkage of the damaged ship is the largest. Generally, the visu­
alization of the flooding process has provided great convenience for the
explanation of the specified motion responses.
Different flooding paths not only have an effect on the flooding
volume and motions of the damaged ship but also the flooding time.
Hence, the final value of the heave motion curves is used as a reference
value. When the value of the heave motion curve no longer changes, it
indicates that the flooding has finished. As shown in the heave motion
curves of Fig. 19, the flooding time for Case 4, Case 5, and Case 7 are 35
Fig. 20. Roll motion comparison between different cases.
14
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
s, 55 s, and 30 s, respectively. The specific reason for this flooding time
difference is determined by the overflow path of the compressed air.
Different opening settings determine whether compressed air can easily
escape.
For Case 4, the compressed air in the damaged compartment can
escape from the ventilation hole on the main deck. The compressed air in
the bottom compartment can overflow from opening 2. The compressed
air in the intact compartment can escape from opening 1. Each flooded
compartment has a compressed air overflow path. The final flooding
time is about 35 s. Compared with Case 4, the compressed air in the
bottom compartment of Case 7 will not be blocked by the flooding water
in the damaged compartment. The compressed air can overflow from
opening 3 to 1. The air overflow is easier. Correspondingly, the flooding
time is less, only about 30 s.
For Case 5, instead, the compressed air in the intact compartment
and the bottom compartment can only overflow from opening 1. At the
same time, opening 1 is the flooding hole of these two compartments.
Therefore, in the flooding process, there will be a continuous overflow of
X. Zhang et al.
the compressed air from the flooding hole. This overflow process will
prevent the water from flooding the intact compartment and the bottom
compartment. As a result, the flooding process is slow, and the flooding
time reaches 55 s, which is 25 s longer than Case 7. If converted to a full-
scale damaged ship according to Froude’s similarity (time is propor­
tional to the square root of the scale; so for this case, the flooding time in
full-scale would be 5 times slower than the model scale), 25 s is equiv­
alent to 125 s. The extra flooding time can provide more possibilities for
rescue options of the damaged ship. Therefore, correct consideration of
the effect of flooding paths on the compressed air overflow is essential to
correctly predict the flooding time and ensure the safety of the damaged
ship.
6.4. Down flooding
In the flooding process, some openings in the compartments may
allow the flooding water to flow downwards. Based on the above anal­
ysis, since the damaged compartment is located near the midship, the
pitch motion responses of different cases are the same. Besides, down­
ward flooding allows more water to flood the compartment so that the
damaged ship will surely heave more. Heave motion does not require
more analysis and discussion.
Therefore, this section only analyses the effect of the downward
flooding on the stability of the damaged ship through the roll motion
curves. Comparing with Case 1, opening 2 in Case 3 allows the water in
the damaged compartment to flood the bottom compartment. It can be
seen from Fig. 20 that the flooding water in the bottom compartment
worsens the roll motion, resulting in a larger heel angle. This increases
the heel angle from 8◦ to 8.5◦ . For Cases 2 and 5, opening 3 in Case 5 also
allows water to flood the bottom compartment. The final flooding form
of Cases 3 and 5 is symmetric, and the damaged ship can maintain a
good floating state. However, judging from the roll motion curves in
Fig. 20, the roll motion curves of Cases 2 and 5 are completely different.
In about 5 s, after the flooding water floods the adjacent compartment
and the bottom compartment, the heel angle of the damaged ship in Case
5 is always greater than that of Case 2 at the same time point. In this
case, the impact of downward flooding is also negative.
Therefore, for the above two downward flooding situations, whether
it is from the final floating state or the stability state in the flooding
process, the downward flooding does not seem to improve the stability
of the damaged ship. However, downward flooding may improve the
stability of the damaged ship in the following situations. When the
original flooding is asymmetric, the downward flooding that can change
the flooding form into symmetric flooding will improve the stability of
the damaged ship. For instance, comparing with Case 1, Case 7 not only
occurred the downward flow to the bottom compartment and the hori­
zontal flow to the adjacent intact compartment, resulting in incom­
pletely symmetric flooding. The heel angle has been reduced from 8◦ to
3◦ . Although the stability improvement is compounded by the horizontal
flow to the adjacent intact compartment, the effect of the downward
flooding is essential. Moreover, when the damaged ship is moving in
waves, the downward flooding can produce a lower center of gravity.
The predicted maximum roll response of the damaged ship can be
reduced (McTaggart, 2000).
6.5. Flooding development and decision support
A good visualization process can effectively predict the development
of progressive flooding. Valuable information including the flooding
time and the motion responses can be provided to the decision maker to
make the emergency response. This section will, respectively analyze the
information available in each case and their help in decision-making. By
this way, the safety of the damaged ship can be guaranteed as much as
possible. For Case 1, when the predicted motion responses show that the
damaged ship may capsize due to the excessive heel angle by the
asymmetric flooding, the necessary ballast water countermeasures must
15
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
be taken to ensure that the damaged ship has a good floating state.
However, such rescue management must be based on the premise that
the damaged ship will not sink due to the additional water.
For Case 2, the damaged ship under symmetric flooding will not be in
danger of capsizing. If the damaged ship does not sink, even without any
emergency response, the damaged ship can maintain a good floating
state. However, if the damaged ship will sink, the obtained flooding
point can provide useful time information for the decision maker to
make the possible management option. From the visualized flooding
process, the intact compartment of Case 2 began to flood around 4.8 s.
According to the Froude’s similarity, 4.8 s in the scale model is equiv­
alent to 24 s in the full-scale model. In such a short time, it is impractical
to seal the opening 1. Blindly adopting sealing operation will not only
threaten the lives of the emergency crew, but also the asymmetric
flooding caused by the blocking effect will worsen the floating state of
the damaged ship. In this case, maximum drainage is the best rescue
measure.
For Case 3, the flooding process shows that the transient water
ingress floods the damaged compartment and the bottom compartment.
In this case, there is no valid time to seal the unclosed manhole (O2). As
in Case 1, the decision maker can only adopt an appropriate ballast
allocation plan as much as possible to offset the effect of asymmetric
flooding.
For Cases 4, 5, and 7, the predicted motion responses show that the
symmetric flooding in the same flooded compartments will eventually
make the damaged ship be in a good floating state. However, the
maximum heel angles in the flooding process are different. According to
the analysis in Section 6.3, the overflow of the compressed air in Case 5
is the most difficult. The maximum heel angle in the flooding process is
about 6◦ , which is larger than Cases 4 and 7. Based on this consideration,
when the flooding region is determined, the decision maker should
consider how to adjust the ventilation condition of the flooded region to
improve the dynamic stability of the damaged ship in the flooding
process.
Finally, due to the obstructive effect of air pocket in Case 6, even if
opening 3 is provided, the flooding will never flood the intact
compartment. If the predicted motion responses show that the damaged
ship may capsize due to the excessive heel angle generated by asym­
metric flooding, the decision maker should consider how to artificially
create ventilation in the intact compartment. In this case, the subsequent
symmetric flooding will improve the stability of the damaged ship. If the
subsequent flooding would make the damaged ship sink, it is mandatory
to keep the original air pocket.
In summary, based on the available information from the simulation
results, emergency responses made by the decision maker should
consider the following points. First: according to the predicted flooding
time, make full use of compartments that can be used as the evacuation
path. Second: when it is predicted that the damaged ship will not sink
due to more flooding water, try to ensure symmetric flooding as much as
possible. Third: when symmetric flooding occurs, ensure the smooth
removal of the compressed air to improve the dynamic damage stability
in the flooding process. Fourth: considering the effect of the air pocket in
the flooded compartments, set effective symmetric flooding paths to
improve the damage stability or rely on the air pocket to prevent the
damaged ship from sinking.
7. Conclusions
Damage stability is of high priority in ship safety, and the compre­
hensive study of the motion responses of the damaged ship will help ship
designers and operators to better improve it. The present study has
examined the effectiveness of applying the CFD approach to directly
assess the dynamic responses of the damaged ship in specific scenarios.
A benchmarking study about the roll decay of the damaged DTMB
5415 has been performed to verify the accuracy of the applied numerical
approach in dealing with the motion of the damaged ship. By comparing
X. Zhang et al.
cases with different opening combinations, the effects of the internal
opening arrangements on the motion performance of the damaged ship
are analyzed.
The main obtained conclusions are summarized as follows:
• The improved visualization capability can clearly show the complex
hydrodynamic behaviors in the flooding process, including the
flooding splashing and rolling. Also, the overflowing process of the
compressed air and generated air cushion in the flooded compart­
ments can be easily seen.
• When asymmetric flooding occurs, the inclining moment due to
negative GZ value will only drive the damaged ship to roll towards
the damaged side. The generated large heel angle would threaten the
safety of the damaged ship. Although symmetric flooding allows
more water to enter the potential compartments, the balanced
moment will make the damaged ship be with a small heel angle,
improving the stability of the damaged ship and guarantee the safety
of the damaged ship.
• The compressed air in the compartment will hinder the flooding of
the damaged compartment, reduce the flooding volume, and form an
air cushion in the compartment. Moreover, the potential symmetric
flooding path may not work due to the compressed air.
• Although the flooded compartments are the same, the different
flooding paths produced by different opening arrangements have a
great influence on the motion responses of the damaged ship.
Allowing the compressed air to smoothly escape from the flooded
compartment will improve the dynamic damage stability in the
flooding process.
• Downward flooding can improve the stability of a damaged ship
under certain situations, for example: changing the asymmetric
flooding into symmetric flooding or reducing the maximum roll
response of the damaged ship in waves.
• The implemented visualization method can predict the flooding time
of each compartment, which can provide useful time data for the
appropriate rescue management.
• Although the applied CFD method can well deal with the motion
responses of the damaged ship, the simulation process is very time-
consuming, as indicated in Paragraph 4.1. This means that the CFD
tool, for now, can be useful for the investigation of a specific set of
damage scenario and cannot handle a large spectrum of damage
cases.
Limitations and future researches
In this paper, only damage cases in still water are simulated and
investigated while only flooding process and motion responses are
analyzed in results. Therefore, to actualize more complicated sea con­
ditions, the present numerical simulation method will be optimized to
increase the models’ complexity, for instance, taking the effect of waves
into account. This will involve some more advanced numerical pro­
cessing methods, such as the overset mesh combined with the Adaptive
Mesh Refinement (AMR) method. And, due to the inherent nature of the
numerical code, the variation result of floodwater in real time are not
provided. In the further, potential improvements are necessary to rem­
edy this defect. Subsequently, the severity of the flooding propagation
can be better assessed.
Moreover, the incompletely dampened motion responses in some
cases may cause the physical inconsistency. Proper limiting measures
need to be taken to suppress this problem as much as possible. Finally,
although the roll decay of the damaged ship was performed to validate
the reliability of the applied simulation method in dealing with the
motion of the damaged ship, in nature, the roll decay of the damaged
ship can not be ascribed to a transient or a progressive flooding stage.
Therefore, in the future research, more relevant tests will be carried out
to validate the reliability of the transient and progressive flooding
simulations.
16
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
CRediT authorship contribution statement
XinLong Zhang: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualization,
Writing – original draft. Zhuang Lin: Project administration, Resources,
Supervision. Simone Mancini: Software, Resources, Writing – review &
editing. Zhanwei Pang: Formal analysis, Validation, Visualization.
Ping Li: Project administration, Resources, Supervision. Fei Liu: Soft­
ware, Visualization.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
This research was supported by the College of Shipbuilding Engi­
neering, Harbin Engineering University. All the simulation calculations
were funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC
Grants 51709063).
References
Karolius, K.B., Cichowicz, J., Vassalos, D., 2019. Modelling of compartment connectivity
and probabilistic assessment of progressive flooding stages for a damaged ship. In:
Proceedings of the 17th International Ship Stability Workshop. Helsinki, Finland, 10-
12 June.
Manderbacka, T., Themelis, N., et al., 2019. An overview of the current research on
stability of ships and ocean vehicles: the STAB 2018 perspective. Ocean Eng. 186,
106090.
Umeda, N., Osugi, M., Ikenaga, Y., Matsuda, A., 2019. Pure loss of stability in stern
quartering waves: revisited with numerical simulations reproducing accidents. In:
Proceedings of the 17th International Ship Stability Workshop. Helsinki, Finland, 10-
12 June.
Kapsenberg, G., Abeil, B., Kim, S., Wandji, C., Ruth, E., Pages, A., 2019. On parametric
roll prediction. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Ship Stability Workshop.
Helsinki, Finland, 10-12 June.
Weems, K., Belenky, V., Campbell, B., Pipiras, V., Sapsis, T., 2019. Envelope peaks over
threshold (EPOT) application and verification. In: Proceedings of the 17th
International Ship Stability Workshop. Helsinki, Finland, 10-12 June.
Lu, J., Gu, M., 2019. Model experiments and direct stability assessment on pure loss of
stability of the ONR tumblehome in following seas. In: Proceedings of the 17th
International Ship Stability Workshop. Helsinki, Finland, 10-12 June.
IMO, 2017a. Report of the Maritime Safety Commission on Its Ninety-Eighth Session.
IMO, London (P. Annex 3).
IMO, 2017b. Resolution MSC. 421 (98) Amendments to the International Convention for
the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as Amended. IMO. Adopted on 9 June.
Lee, S., You, J.M., Lee, H.H., Lim, T., Rhee, S.H., Rhee, K.P, 2012. Preliminary tests of a
damaged ship for CFD validation. Int. J. Nav. Archit. Ocean Eng. 4, 172–181.
Ruponen, P., Kurvinen, P., Saisto, I., Harras, J, 2013. Air compression in a flooded tank of
a damaged ship. Ocean Eng. 57, 64–71.
Domeh, V.D.K., Sobey, A.J., Hudson, D, 2015. A preliminary experimental investigation
into the influence of compartment permeability on damaged ship response in waves.
Appl. Ocean Res. 52, 27–36.
Lim, T., Seo, J., Park, S.J., Rhee, S.H., 2015. Free-running model tests of a damaged ship
in head and following seas. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on
the Stability of Ships and Ocean Vehicles. Glasgow, UK, pp. 643–652, 14-19 June
2015.
Acanfora, M., Luca, F.D, 2016. An experimental investigation into the influence of the
damage openings on ship response. Appl. Ocean Res. 58, 62–70.
Siddiqui, M.A., Greco, M., Lugni, C., Faltinsen, O.M, 2019. Experimental studies of a
damaged ship section in forced heave motion. Appl. Ocean Res. 88, 254–274.
Siddiqui, M.A., Greco, M., Lugni, C., Faltinsen, O.M, 2020. Experimental studies of a
damaged ship section in beam sea waves. Appl. Ocean Res. 97, 102090.
Dankowski, H., Kruger, S., 2012. A fast, direct approach for the simulation of damage
scenarios in the time domain. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Marine
Design Conference. Glasgow, UK, pp. 545–560.
Manderbacka, T., Mikkola, T., Ruponen, P., Matusiak, J, 2015. Transient response of a
ship to an abrupt flooding accounting for the momentum flux. J. Fluid Struct. 57,
108–126.
Ruponen, P., Pulkkinen, A., Laaksonen, J, 2017. A method for breach assessment
onboard a damaged passenger ship. Appl. Ocean Res. 64, 236–248.
Acanfora, M., Begovic, E., De Luca, F, 2019. A fast simulation method for damaged ship
dynamics. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 7, 111.
X. Zhang et al.
Bu, S.X., Gu, M., 2019. Study on the damaged ship motion coupled with damaged flow
based on the unified viscous/potential prediction model. In: Proceedings of the 17th
International Ship Stability Workshop. Helsinki, Finland, 20-12 June.
Niotis, A., Vassalos, D., Boulougouris, E., Cichowicz, J., Atzampos, G., Paterson, D., 2019.
Verification of damage ship survivability with computational fluid dynamics. In:
Proceedings of the 17th International Ship Stability Workshop. Helsinki, Finland, 20-
12 June.
Begovic, E., Day, A.H., Incecik, A., Mancini, S., Pizzirusso, D., 2015. Roll damping
assessment of intact and damaged ship by CFD and EFD methods. In: Proceedings of
the 12th International Ship Stability Workshop. Glasgow, UK, 13-19 June.
Sadat-Hosseini, H., Kim, D.H., Carrica, P.M., Rhee, S.H., Stern, F, 2016. URANS
simulations for a flooded ship in calm water and regular beam waves. Ocean Eng.
120, 318–330.
Gao, Z., Wang, Y., Su, Y., Chen, L., 2018. Numerical study of damaged ship’s
compartment sinking with air compression effect. Ocean Eng. 147, 68–76.
Ming, F.R., Zhang, A.M., Cheng, H., Sun, P.N, 2018. Numerical simulation of a damaged
ship cabin flooding in transversal waves with smoothed particle hydrodynamics
methods. Ocean Eng. 165, 336–352.
Zhang, X.L., Lin, Z., Mancini, S., Li, P., Li, Z., Liu, F, 2019. A Numerical investigation on
the flooding process of multiple compartments based on the volume of fluid method.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 7, 211.
17
Applied Ocean Research 117 (2021) 102943
Zhang, X.L., Lin, Z., Li, P., Liu, D.K., Li, Z., Pang, Z.W., Wang, M.Q, 2020a. A numerical
investigation on the effect of symmetric and asymmetric flooding on the damage
stability of a ship. J Mar Sci Technol. 25 (4), 1151–1165.
Zhang, X.L., Lin, Z., Mancini, S., Li, P., Liu, D.K., Liu, F., Pang, Z.W., 2020b. Numerical
Investigation into the effect of damage openings on ship hydrodynamics by the
overset mesh technique. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 8, 11.
Jalonen, R., Ruponen, P., Weryk, M., Naar, H., Vaher, S, 2017. A study on leakage and
collapse of non-watertight ship doors under floodwater pressure. Mar. Struct. 51,
188–201.
ITTC, 2011. Procedures and guidelines. Practical Guidelines for Ship CFD Applications.
ITTC, 7.5-03-02-03.
Mancini, S., Begovic, E., Day, A.H., Incecik, A., 2018. Verification and validation of
numerical modelling of DTMB 5415 roll decay. Ocean Eng. 162, 209–223.
STAR-CCM+ Users’ Guide Version 12.02; CD-Adapco, 2012. Computational Dynamics-
Analysis and Design. Application Company Ltd, Melville, NY, USA.
Ruponen, P., Manderbacka, T., Lindroth, D, 2018. On the calculation of the righting lever
curve for a damaged ship. Ocean Eng. 148, 313–324.
McTaggart, K., 2000. Influence of downflooding on iroquois class damage stability.
Defense Research Establishment Atlantic. Technical Memorandum. DREA TM 2000-
038March.