Numerical simulation of Sewol ferry capsize
Yonghwan Kim, Min-Guk Seo, Jae-Hoon Lee
First Published September 6, 2017 Research Article
Article Information
Article first published online: September 6, 2017
Received: June 14, 2017; Accepted: August 02, 2017
https://doi.org/10.1177/1475090217729045
Yonghwan Kim1, Min-Guk Seo1, 2, Jae-Hoon Lee1
1Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
2Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
Corresponding Author: Yonghwan Kim, Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-744, Republic of Korea. Email: yhwankim@snu.ac.kr
Abstract
In this study, numerical simulations are conducted in order to analyze the capsizing of roll-on/roll-off passenger ship, Sewol, which occurred on 16 April 2014. Since little is known about the reason of ship capsize, numerical simulation aims to the finding of possible scenarios which can cause this tragic accident. To this end, 4-degree-of-freedom (surge, sway, yaw, and roll motions) maneuvering equations are solved. The hydrodynamic coefficients obtained from a similar ship are applied and the WISH-Maneuver program of Seoul National University is used to perform the numerical simulation. The present analysis utilizes the probabilistic approach, which considers various physical variables and involves the simulation of a large number of cases using different combinations of the variables. The total number of simulation cases is over 70 millions, and the simulation results that are close to the conditions of the actual accident situation are selected. Through this process, the effects of the simulation variables are investigated and the potential causes of the accident are identified. The results show the hydrostatic instability of the ship in the operational condition owing to cargo overload and insufficient ballast water, which raised the vertical center of gravity. The reduced stability combined with large starboard steering angle and cargo movement during large heel may have been the decisive reason of capsizing.
References
1. Kijima K, Tanaka S, Furukawa Y, et al. On a prediction method of ship manoeuvring characteristics. In: Proceedings of the international conference on marine simulation and ship maneuverability (MARSIM ¡¯93), St. John¡¯s, NL, Canada, 26 September–2 October 1993, vol. 1, pp.285–294. MARSIM (International Conference on Marine Simulation and Ship Manoeuverability).
...