Knowledge of the effect that a rough surface has on skin friction

It is not a trivial task for ship owners and shipyards to decide which coating to use or how often the surfaces should be recoated or cleaned based on cost/benefit analyses. SSPA has completed a research project with the aim to gain increased knowledge of the effect a rough surface has on skin friction. This project has also resulted in an interactive tool that can be used to estimate fuel consumption without requiring background knowledge in hydrodynamics. This tool is the “Skin Friction database”, which will hopefully contribute to better surface treatment of vessels, that in the end can reduce costs and emission of greenhouse gases from the maritime sector.

The database interface is interactive and consists of the following sections; vessel information, which requires only a minimum amount of information to allow for easy use, and graphs of skin friction in model and full scale. Finally, based on the delivered power of the vessel, the fuel consumption increase for each selected surface is presented in absolute numbers and in graphical form. 

The main goal of the database, and the reason to include the interactive interface, is to offer vessel management an easy to use tool to evaluate the impact of rough surfaces on fuel consumption, thus allowing a better cost/benefit analysis of when and how to improve a vessel’s surface condition.

Read the article Skin Friction database for the maritime sector

Tool available at: www.sspa.se/tools-and-methods/skin-friction-database