Waves and ripples in water, air, and æther : $b Being a course of Christmas lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great BritainFleming, J. A. (John Ambrose), Sir
Science
Waves and ripples in water, air, and æther : $b Being a course of Christmas lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain
Fleming, J. A. (John Ambrose), Sir
Electric waves; Sound; Waves
The above-described process for testing models is being continually
conducted in the case of all new battleships and cruisers for the
British Navy, and also is pursued by the naval constructors of other
nations. In connection with the extensive programme of battleship
construction which has been carried out of late years, Sir William
White, the late eminent Chief Director of Naval Construction, states
that it is not too much to say that these methods of investigation
and experiment have placed in the hands of the naval architect an
instrument of immense power for guiding him safely and preventing
costly mistakes. Sir William White has declared that it would have been
impossible to proceed with the same certainty in battleship design,
were it not for the aid afforded by these methods.
Mr. Froude was not content, however, with experiments made with models.
He ascertained by actual trials the total force required to drive an
actual ship through the water at various speeds, and obtained from
other experiments valuable data which showed the proportion in which
the total resistance offered to the ship was divided between the skin
friction and the wave-making resistance.
Then he made experiments on a ship of 1157 tons, viz. H.M.S.
_Greyhound_. This vessel was towed by another vessel of 3078 tons,
viz. H.M.S. _Active_, by means of a tow-rope and a dynamometer, which
enabled the exact “pull” on this hawser to be ascertained when the
_Greyhound_ was towed at certain speeds. The following are some of the
results obtained:—
Speed in knots Strain in tons
of H.M.S. _Greyhound_. on towing-rope.
4 knots 0·6 tons
6 ” 1·4 ”
8 ” 2·5 ”
10 ” 4·7 ”
12 ” 9·0 ”
It will be seen that the total resistance increases very rapidly with
the speed, varying in a higher ratio than the square of the speed.
In addition, the indicated horse-power of the engine of the _Greyhound_
was taken when being self-driven at the above speeds, and it was found
that only 45 per cent. of the indicated horse-power of the engines was
used in propelling the ship, the remaining 55 per cent. being wasted in
engine and shaft friction and in useless churning of the water by the
screw.
It is an important thing to know how this total resistance is divided
between skin friction and wave-making resistance.
Mr. R. E. Froude has kindly furnished the author, through the
intermediation of Sir William White, with some figures obtained
from experiments at Haslar, showing the proportion of the whole
ship-resistance which is due to skin friction for various classes of
ships going at certain speeds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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