The Motion Response of Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger under the Influence of Swell

With the continuous development of the dredging business to overseas markets, dredging ships are faced with a more and more complex hydrodynamic environment. Swell with long wave periods has a great impact on the adaptability of ship operations. Focused on the Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD), this paper studied the motion response characteristics of the TSHD under the influence of swell. The result shows that the motion response of the TSHD is severely affected by swell. The amplitude of the ship motion response increases with the increase of wave height. When subjected to the transverse swell with the 90° wave direction, both the heave and roll response amplitude of TSHD is the most significant. While under the influence of swell with the 0° wave direction, the TSHD only pitches violently. The results can guide the suitability assessment of dredging ships in the swell area.