INTACT STABILITY

Session 1
Forces and Moments
Centroids
Gravitational Stability
 An Overview of Stability
• Why do we study Stability?
• What is being stable means?
• What are the basis of stability?
A vessel must provide adequate buoyancy to
support itself and its contents or working loads.
It is equally important that the buoyancy be
provided in a way that will allow the vessel to
float in the proper attitude, or trim, and remain
upright. This involves the problems of
gravitational stability and trim. These issues will
be discussed in detail in this chapter, primarily
with reference to static conditions in calm water.
Consideration will also be given to criteria for
judging the adequacy of a ship's stability subject
to both internal loading and external hazards.
It is important to recognize, however, that a ship or
offshore structure in its natural sea environment is sub-
ject to dynamic forces caused primarily by waves, wind,
and, to a lesser extent, the vessel's own propulsion sys-
tem and control surfaces. The specific response of the
vessel to waves is typically treated separately as a ship
motions analysis. Nevertheless, it is possible and advis-
able to consider some dynamic effects while dealing
with stability in idealized calm water, static conditions.
This enables the designer to evaluate the survivability
of the vessel at sea without performing direct motions
analyses and facilitates the development of stability
criteria
Another external hazard affecting a ship's
stability is that of damage to the hull by
collision, grounding, or other accident that
results in flooding of the hull. The stability
and trim of the damaged ship will be
considered
In Subdivision and Damage Stability
Finally, it is important to note that a floating struc-
ture may be inclined in any direction. Any inclination
may be considered as made up of an inclination in the
athwartship plane and an inclination in the longitudinal plane.
In ship calculations, the athwartship inclination, called heel
or list, and the longitudinal inclination,
called trim, are usually dealt with separately.
 Stability

Damage
Intact (Flooding &
Subdivision)

Dynamics
Static
(motion analysis)

Transverse Stability
(Heel and List)

Small Angles

Large Angles

Longitudinal Stability
(Trim)
 FORCES AND MOMENTS
Forces
A force can be defined as any push or pull
exerted on a body. The S.I. unit of force is the
Newton, one Newton being the force required
to produce in a mass of one kilogram an
acceleration of one metre per second. When
considering a force the following points
regarding the force must be known:
(a) The magnitude of the force.
(b) The direction in which the force is applied.
(c) The point at which the force is applied.
The resultant force. When two or more forces are acting at
a point, their combined effect can be represented by one
force which will have the same effect as the component
forces. Such a force is referred to as the ‘resultant force’,
and the process of finding it is called the ‘resolution of the
component forces’.

The resolution of forces. When resolving forces it will be

appreciated that a force acting towards a point will have the
same effect as an equal force acting away from the point,
so long as both forces act in the same direction and in the
same straight line. Thus a force of 10 Newtons (N) pushing
to the right on a certain point can be substituted for a force
of 10 Newtons (N) pulling to the right from the same point.
(a) Resolving two forces which act in the same straight line If both forces act in the
same straight line and in the same direction the resultant is their sum, but if the
forces act in opposite directions the resultant is the difference of the two forces
and acts in the direction of the larger of the two forces.

Example 1
Whilst moving an object one man pulls on it with a force of 200 Newtons, and
another pushes in the same direction with a force of 300 Newtons. Find the
resultant force propelling the object.
Example 2

A force of 5 Newtons is applied towards a point whilst a force of 2

Newtons is applied at the same point but in the opposite direction. Find
the resultant force.
(b) Resolving two forces which do not act in the same straight line
When the two forces do not act in the same straight line, their resultant can
be found by completing a parallelogram of forces.

Example 1
A force of 3 Newtons and a force of 5 N act towards a point at an angle of
120 degrees to each other. Find the direction and magnitude of the resultant.
(c) Resolving two forces which act in parallel directions
When two forces act in parallel directions, their combined effect can be
represented by one force whose magnitude is equal to the algebraic sum of
the two component forces, and which will act through a point about which
their moments are equal.
Example 2

In Figure 1.7 the parallel forces W and P act in opposite directions through
Aand B respectively. If W is again greater than P, their resultant (W P) acts
through point C on AB produced such that P y W x.
 MOMENT of FORCES
The moment of a force is a measure of the turning effect of
the force about a point. The turning effect will depend
upon the following:
• (a) The magnitude of the force.
• (b) The length of the lever upon which the force acts, the
lever being the perpendicular distance between the line
of action of the force and the point about which the
moment is being taken.

The magnitude of the moment is the product of the force

and the length of the lever. Thus, if the force is
measured in Newtons and the length of the lever in
metres, the moment found will be expressed in Newton-
metres (Nm).
Resultant moment. When two or
more forces are acting about a
point their
combined effect can be
represented by one imaginary
moment called the ‘Resultant
Moment’. The process of
finding the resultant moment is Resolution of moments. To
refer to as the ‘Resolution of calculate the resultant moment
the Component Moments’. about a point, find the sum of
the moments to produce
rotation in a clockwise
direction about the point, and
the sum of the moments to
produce rotation in an
anticlockwise direction. Take
the lesser of these two
moments from the greater and
the difference will be the
magnitude of the resultant.
The direction in which it acts will
be that of the greater of the
two component moments.
Example 1
A capstan consists of a drum 2 metres in
diameter around which a rope is
wound, and four levers at right angles to
each other, each being 2 metres long.
If a man on the end of each lever pushes
with a force of 500 Newtons, what
strain is put on the rope?

Note. For a body to remain at rest, the

resultant force acting on the body must
be zero and the resultant moment about its
centre of gravity must also be
zero, if the centre of gravity be considered
a fixed point.
 MASS
In the S.I. system of units it is most important to distinguish between
the mass of a body and its weight. Mass is the fundamental measure of
the quantity of matter in a body and is expressed in terms of the
kilogram and the tonne, whilst the weight of a body is the force exerted
on it by the Earth’s gravitational force and is measured in terms of the
Newton (N) and kilo-Newton (kN).
Weight and mass are connected by the formula:
Example 2
Find the weight of a body of mass 50
kilograms at a place where the acceleration
due to gravity is 9.81 metres
per second per second.
 Moments of mass
If the force of gravity is considered constant
then the weight of bodies is proportional to
their mass and the resultant moment of
two or more weights about a point can be
expressed in terms of their mass
moments.
Example 3
A uniform plank is 3 metres long and is supported at a
point under its midlength.
A load having a mass of 10 kilograms is placed at a
distance of 0.5 metres from one end and a second load
of mass 30 kilograms is placed at a distance of one
metre from the other end. Find the resultant moment
about the middle of the plank.
Centroids and the
centre of gravity
The centroid of an area is situated at its geometrical centre. In
each of the following figures ‘G’ represents the centroid, and if
each area was suspended from this point it would balance.
The centre of gravity of a body is the point at which all the
mass of the
body may be assumed to be concentrated and is the point
through which the force of gravity is considered to act
vertically downwards, with a force equal to the weight of
the body. It is also the point about which the body would
balance.

The centre of gravity of a homogeneous body is at its

geometrical centre.

Thus the centre of gravity of a homogeneous rectangular

block is half-way along its length, half-way across its
breadth and at half its depth.
Let us now consider the effect on the centre of gravity of a
body when the distribution of mass within the body is
changed.
Effect of removing or discharging
mass
From this it may be concluded that when
mass is removed from a body,
the centre of gravity of the body will move
directly away from the centre of
gravity of the mass removed, and the
distance it moves will be given by the
formula:

where GG1 is the shift of the centre of gravity of the body,

w is the mass removed, and d is the distance between the
centre of gravity of the mass removed and the centre of
gravity of the body.
In Figure 2.4(d), the mass is below and to port of G, and the ship’s centre
of gravity will move upwards and to starboard.
In each case:
 Effect of adding or loading mass
Once again consider the plank of homogeneous wood shown in Figure 2.2.
Now add a piece of plank of mass w kg at a distance of d metres from G as
shown in Figure 2.5(a).
From the above it may be concluded that when mass is added to a body,
the centre of gravity of the body will move directly towards the centre of gravity
of the mass added, and the distance which it moves will be given by
the formula:
Effect of shifting weights
Effect of suspended weights
Conclusions
1.The centre of gravity of a body will move directly towards the centre of gravity of
any weight added.

2. The centre of gravity of a body will move directly away from the centre of gravity
of any weight removed.

3. The centre of gravity of a body will move parallel to the shift of the
centre of gravity of any weight moved within the body.

4. No matter where the weight ‘w’ was initially in the ship relative to G,
when this weight is moved downwards in the ship, then the ship’s overall
G will also be moved downwards to a lower position. Consequently, the
ship’s stability will be improved.

5. No matter where the weight ‘w’ was initially in the ship relative to G,
when this weight is moved upwards in the ship, then the ship’s overall G
will also be moved upwards to a higher position. Consequently, the ship’s
stability will be decreased.
6. The shift of the centre of gravity of the body in each case is given by the
formula:

where w is the mass of the weight added, removed or shifted, W is the

final mass of the body, and d is, in 1 and 2, the distance between the
centres of gravity, and in 3, the distance through which the weight is shifted.

7. When a weight is suspended its centre of gravity is considered to be at

the point of suspension.
 Example 1
A hold is partly filled with a cargo of bulk
grain. During the loading, the ship
takes a list and a quantity of grain shifts so
that the surface of the grain remains
parallel to the waterline. Show the effect of
this on the ship’s centre of gravity.

In Figure 2.9, G represents the original

position of the ship’s centre of gravity
when upright. AB represents the level of
the surface of the grain when the
ship was upright and CD the level when
inclined. A wedge of grain AOC
with its centre of gravity at g has shifted to
ODB with its centre of gravity at
g1. The ship’s centre of gravity will shift
from G to G1, such that GG1 is parallel
to gg1, and the distance
Example 2
Aship is lying starboard side to a quay. Aweight is to be discharged from the
port side of the lower hold by means of the ship’s own derrick. Describe the
effect on the position of the ship’s centre of gravity during the operation.

Note. When a weight is suspended from

a point, the centre of gravity of the
weight appears to be at the point of
suspension regardless of the distance
between the point of suspension and
the weight. Thus, as soon as the weight
is clear of the deck and is being borne
at the derrick head, the centre of gravity
of the weight appears to move from its
original position to the derrick
head. For example, it does not matter
whether the weight is 0.6 metres or
6.0 metres above the deck, or whether it
is being raised or lowered; its centre
of gravity will appear to be at the derrick
head.
In Figure 2.10, G represents the original position of the ship’s centre
of gravity, and g represents the centre of gravity of the weight when lying
in the lower hold. As soon as the weight is raised clear of the deck, its centre
of gravity will appear to move vertically upwards to g1. This will cause the
ship’s centre of gravity to move upwards from G to G1, parallel to gg1.
The centres of gravity will remain at G1 and g1 respectively during the
whole of the time the weight is being raised. When the derrick is swung
over the side, the derrick head will move from g1 to g2, and since the
weight is suspended from the derrick head, its centre of gravity will also
appear to move from g1 to g2. This will cause the ship’s centre of gravity
to move from G1 to G2. If the weight is now landed on the quay it is in
effect being discharged from the derrick head and the ship’s centre of
gravity will move from G2 to G3 in a direction directly away from g2. G3 is
therefore the final position of the ship’s centre of gravity after discharging
the weight.
From this it can be seen that the net effect of discharging the weight is a
shift of the ship’s centre of gravity from G to G3, directly away from the
centre of gravity of the weight discharged. This would agree with the earlier
conclusions which have been reached in Figure 2.4.
Note. The only way in which the position of the centre of gravity of a ship can
be altered is by changing the distribution of the weights within the ship, i.e.
by adding removing or shifting weights.