Abstract: The present invention's new calculative methodology models the motion of a seagoing vessel in six dimensions, uniquely employing a total velocity potential as the sole parameterization for taking into consideration all linear and nonlinear dynamical effects involved in interaction between the vessel and environmental water. The solid-body rotational motion of the vessel about the vessel's center of mass is determined in three dimensions (roll, pitch, yaw) by calculating the pressure torque and the buoyancy torque. The solid-body translational motion of the vessel's center of mass is determined in three dimensions (heave, surge, sway) by calculating the pressure force and the buoyancy force. The pressure torque and the pressure force are each associated with pressure (e.g., non-hydrostatic pressure) of water on the vessel's surface. The buoyancy torque and the buoyancy force are each associated with the displacement of the vessel with respect to the vessel's equilibrium position in the water.

Abstract: The hydrodynamics of a seagoing vessel are numerically modeled through the present invention's new calculative methodology, which uniquely combines vessel boundary characteristics and pseudo-spectral environmental characteristics. Solutions are obtained through mutual transformations between the vessel boundary's irregular grid and the environment's regular pseudo-spectral grid. The pressure at the vessel boundary, an important component of the vessel boundary itself, can be determined via either (i) finite element analysis (which has a Cartesian framework) or (ii) the present invention's new vessel normal vector analysis (which has a non-Cartesian framework); the latter approach avoids the singularity problem that generally besets hydrodynamics-related mathematics. Typical inventive practice implements a computer processing unit and succeeds in finding superior solutions in shorter CPU durations.