Effects of nearshore wave reflections on the behaviour of an axe bow trimaran hull

ABSTRACT Trimaran hulls have some advantageous features over monohull and twin hull counterparts. Naval architects prefer to use axe bow when the achievement of high speed becomes the main design objective as this type of bow cuts through water rather than rising on top of waves. Structural and hydrodynamic behaviours of an axe bow trimaran depend significantly on its design features as well as the operating environment. However, such behaviours are unknown when the hull experiences nearshore wave reflections. Therefore, a scaled-model hull has been tested in coastal wave basin to investigate its behaviour under nearshore wave reflections focusing mainly on the hull’s motions in various heading directions as well as in various wave frequencies. The results presented also relate motions with the wave pressures indicating that an axe bow trimaran hull, travelling near shorelines, experiences unusual motions and wave loadings when it encounters waves influenced by nearshore reflections.