Scribd
Upload
177 views

Trim or Longitudinal Stability

This document discusses trim, or longitudinal stability, of ships. Trim is measured as the difference between the drafts forward and aft of a ship. Positive trim means the bow is deeper in the water, while negative trim means the stern is deeper. The center of flotation, about which a ship trims, is where the vertical line through the center of buoyancy intersects the waterline. Shifting weights aboard a ship causes it to change trim until the centers of gravity and buoyancy are again in line. An example problem calculates the cargo to be discharged from specific holds to achieve an even keel after other cargo operations that affect trim.

Uploaded by

ALI Jaquar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
177 views

Trim or Longitudinal Stability

This document discusses trim, or longitudinal stability, of ships. Trim is measured as the difference between the drafts forward and aft of a ship. Positive trim means the bow is deeper in the water, while negative trim means the stern is deeper. The center of flotation, about which a ship trims, is where the vertical line through the center of buoyancy intersects the waterline. Shifting weights aboard a ship causes it to change trim until the centers of gravity and buoyancy are again in line. An example problem calculates the cargo to be discharged from specific holds to achieve an even keel after other cargo operations that affect trim.

Uploaded by

ALI Jaquar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 12

Chapter 16

Trim or longitudinal stability


Trim may be considered as the longitudinal equivalent of list. Trim is also known
as ‘longitudinal stability’.

It is in effect transverse stability turned through 90°. Instead of trim being


measured in degrees it is measured as the difference between the drafts forward
and aft.

If difference is zero then the ship is on even keel.

If forward draft is greater than aft draft, the vessel is trimming by the bow.

If aft draft is greater than the forward draft, the vessel is trimming by the stern.

Consider a ship to be floating at rest in still water and on an even keel as shown in
Figure The centre of gravity (G) and the centre of buoyancy (B) will be in the same
vertical line and the ship will be displacing her own weight of water.

Now let a weight ‘w’, already on board, be shifted aft through a distance‘d’, as
shown in Figure.
This causes the centre of gravity of the ship to shift from G to G1, parallel to the
shift of the centre of gravity of the weight shifted, so that:

The ship will now trim until the centres of gravity and buoyancy are again in the
same vertical line, as shown in Figure.
When trimmed, the wedge of buoyancy LFL1 emerges and the wedge WFW1 is
immersed.
Since the ship, when trimmed, must displace the same weight of water as when on
an even keel, the volume of the immersed wedge must be equal to the volume of
the emerged wedge and F, the point about which the ship trims, is the centre of
gravity of the water-plane area. The point F is called the ‘centre of flotation’ or
‘tipping centre’.

A vessel with a rectangular water-plane has its centre of flotation on the centre line
amidships but, on a ship, it may be a little forward or abaft amidships, depending
on the shape of the water-plane.
In trim problems, unless stated otherwise, it is to be assumed that the centre of
flotation is situated amidships.

Trimming moments are taken about the centre of flotation since this is the point
about which rotation takes place.

The longitudinal metacentre (ML) is the point of intersection between the


verticals through the longitudinal positions of the centres of buoyancy.

The vertical distance between the centre of gravity and the longitudinal metacentre
(GML) is called the longitudinal metacentric height.

BML is the height of the longitudinal metacentre above the centre of Buoyancy.

To find the change of draft forward and aft due to change of trim
When a ship changes trim it will obviously cause a change in the drafts forward
and aft.
One of these will be increased and the other decreased.
A formula must now be found which will give the change in drafts due to change
of trim.

Consider a ship floating upright as shown in Figure. F1 represents the position of


the centre of flotation which is l metres from aft. The ship’s length is L metres and
a weight ‘w’ is on deck forward.

Let this weight now be shifted aft a distance of‘d’ metres.


The ship will trim about F1 and change the trim‘t’ cms by the stern as shown in the
following Figure.

W1C is a line drawn parallel to the keel.


‘A’ represents the new draft aft and ‘F’ the new draft forward.
The trim is therefore equal to A- F and, since the original trim was zero, this must
also be equal to the change of trim.
The effect of loading and/or discharging weights
When a weight is loaded at the centre of flotation it will produce no trimming
moment, but the ship’s drafts will increase uniformly so that the ship displaces an
extra weight of water equal to the weight loaded.

If the weight is now shifted forward or aft away from the centre of flotation, it will
cause a change of trim.

From this it can be seen that when a weight is loaded away from the centre of
flotation, it will cause both a bodily sinkage and a change of trim.

Similarly, when a weight is being discharged, if the weight is first shifted to the
centre of flotation it will produce a change of trim, and if it is then discharged from
the centre of flotation the ship will rise bodily.
Thus, both a change of trim and bodily rise must be considered when a weight is
being discharged away from the centre of flotation.
Example 5
A ship arrives in port trimmed 25 cm by the stern. The centre of flotation is amidships.
MCT 1 cm. 100 tonnes- m. A total of 3800 tonnes of cargo is to be discharged from 4 holds, and
360 tonnes of bunkers loaded in No. 4 double bottom tank; 1200 tonnes of the cargo is to be
discharged from No. 2 hold and 600 tonnes from No. 3 hold. Find the amount to be discharged
from Nos. 1 and 4 holds if the ship is to complete on an even keel.
Centre of gravity of No. 1 hold is 50 m forward of the centre of flotation
Centre of gravity of No. 2 hold is 30 m forward of the centre of flotation
Centre of gravity of No. 3 hold is 20 m abaft of the centre of flotation
Centre of gravity of No. 4 hold is 45 m abaft of the centre of flotation
Centre of gravity of No. 4 DB tank is 5 m abaft of the centre of flotation

You might also like