Experimental Comparison of Internal Excitation Techniques for Ship Roll Experiments

IThis study compares three methods of internal excitation that can be used for ship roll experiments. The methods are evaluated using two experimental setups: the first is a pendulum-based system designed to replicate a ship’s stiffness characteristics, while the second is a conventional general cargo ship model. Two of the three methods rely on shifting the model’s centre of mass. The differences in the response of the model under excitation are assessed, and a harmonic reference is used to compare outcomes across all methods. The results indicate that the primary distinctions between these excitation techniques are related to the variation in the response amplitude in relation to the change in excitation amplitude. When both performance and practical applicability are taken into account, the flywheel-based method is identified as the most viable and preferable approach.