Abstract

The non-linear ship capsize equation derived by Thompson et al., that incorporates both direct and parametric excitation, is examined numerically in an attempt to deepen our understanding on the influence of the parameters involved in the final ship’s response.
Because our interest is focused on the binary outcome of capsize-non-capsize, no remark of the steady-state onto which a non-capsize motion may settle is made. The four-dimensional phase-control space includes the non-dimensional damping coefficient, the ratio between wave frequency and ship’s natural frequency, and the direct and parametric forcing amplitudes. All the computed boundaries between capsizing and non-capsizing regions in bi-dimensional projections of control parameter space show fractal features.