CHAPTER FOUR

DESIGN OF SHIP LINES

The form of a ship’s hull is drawn on a scale to produce what is called ship lines,
using the methods of descriptive geometry. A set of lines consists essentially of
three views:

(1) Profile of the vessel; known as the sheer plan,

(2) Plan view of the vessel; known as the half-breadth plan,
(3) A set of transverse sections; known as the body plan.

The form of a ship is determined by the shape of its moulded surfaces; i.e. surface which
are inside the edge of shell plating. The arrangement of the lines drawing is shown the
following figure.

Fig.1. Ship Lines

The design of ship’s lines is fundamental to the ship design process. In general, there are two
ways of producing ship lines for the estimated form parameters.

(1) The first way of making and producing lines for a particular type of ship is to
make them similar to some parent model or group of models. These models are
previously tested and found that they have good resistance and safety. This way permits
offsets to be developed directly from chart or tables for given arbitrary input
32
 characteristics, especially prismatic coefficient, length to breadth ratio, volumetric
coefficient and position of the longitudinal center of buoyancy. Getting the ship lines
according to this way will produce the same stability and resistance qualities as those of a
parent model. This method is known as the methodical series.

Particular examples are the series 60 single screw merchant ship forms, Taylor’s standard
series, Townsend’s seakeeping series of single screw forms, the MARAD low L/B series
and the Webb trawler series. Design of ship lines for single screw merchant ships
according to series 60 will be studied in details in the next section.

(2) The second way is to create the lines such that the moulded volume included
inside the ship’s form satisfies the total volume of displacement, ship’s dimensions and
form parameters. However, these lines are not to be final until they enter the ship design
spiral, to get modified and corrected in order to satisfy the best possible level of all other
controlling items of ship design, such as hydrostatic, floodable length, general
arrangement, ship strength, resistance and powering, lightship weight, capacity, stability
(both intact and damage), …. etc. The number of turns on the spiral depends upon the
degree of refinement required to a specific design. This method is known as the creative
method and will later be studied in details.

1. Design of Ship Lines Using Series 60

In series 60, systematic resistance and propulsion experiments carried out with models of
single-screw merchant ships. These experiments carried out on five parent models, ranging in
block coefficient from 0.60 to 0.80, and tests on a number of additional models made to explore
the effects of changes in the position of the longitudinal center of buoyancy.

For any given block coefficient, these tests covered only one value of length to beam
ratio and one value of beam to draft ratio. When the general lines of the parents had been
determined and the optimum position of LCB found, it was obviously necessary to extend the
series to cover L/B values from 5.5 to 8.5 and B/T values from 2.5 to 3.5. The principal
particulars of the Series 60 parent models are set out in Table 1.

33
 Table 1

The following steps can be followed to design lines for a single screw merchant ship
using series 60:

(1) Draw series 60 profile using the bow and stern contours. The stern has an aperture
suitable for a single screw with cruiser stern. The bow profile is almost vertical below
water. The intersection between waterlines and this profile gives the ends points of each
waterline in the half-breadth plan.

(2) From figure 2, obtain the values of midship section area coefficient (CM), bilge radius (R)
and prismatic coefficient (CP). Note that, the midship section has no deadrise and a linear
relation between block coefficient and midship area coefficient was adopted as shown in
figure 2.

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 Fig.2. Variation of CM, CP and Bilge Radius
with CB

(3) By the calculated bilge radius (R), ship breadth (B) and depth (D), draw the shape of
midship section to get the maximum breadth for each waterline.

(4) From figure 3, obtain the values of the load waterline half angle of entrance (1/2 αE), the
length of parallel middle body (LP) and the length of entrance part (LE).

Fig. 3. Variation of Angle of Entrance, Position and Amount of Parallel Body

for Series 60 Parents

35
(5) Calculate the length of run (LR) as follows:

(6) Divide each of the length of entrance (LE) and the length of run (LR) into 10 equal
intervals.

(7) From figure 4, obtain the position of longitudinal center of buoyancy (LCB) measured
from midship section as a percentage of the length between perpendiculars.

Fig.4. Ratio of LE/LBP for Different Values of CB

and Positions of LCB

(8) From figure 5, obtain the prismatic coefficient of entrance (CPE) as a function of the
prismatic coefficient of run (CPR).

36
 Fig. 5. Ratio of CPE/CPR for Different Values of CB
and Positions of LCB

(9) Calculate the values of prismatic coefficient of entrance (CPE) and the prismatic
coefficient of run (CPR) according to the following equation:

(10) By the calculated prismatic coefficient of entrance and run, draw the half-breadth plan
using figures 6a to 6p.

37
(11) Draw a complete body plan. Then, fair the lines by the buttocks and diagonals to get the
final lines.

Fig. 6a. 0.0 W. L. Cross Curves, Entrance

38
Fig. 6b. 0.0 W. L. Cross Curves, Run

39
Fig. 6c. 0.075 W. L. Cross Curves, Entrance

40
Fig. 6d. 0.075 W. L. Cross Curves, Run

41
Fig. 6e. 0.25 W. L. Cross Curves, Entrance

42
Fig. 6f. 0.25 W. L. Cross Curves, Run

43
Fig. 6g. 0.5 W. L. Cross Curves, Entrance

44
Fig. 6h. 0.5 W. L. Cross Curves, Run

45
Fig. 6i. 0.75 W. L. Cross Curves, Entrance

46
Fig. 6j. 0.75 W. L. Cross Curves, Run

47
Fig. 6k. 1.0 W. L. Cross Curves, Entrance

48
Fig. 6l. 1.0 W. L. Cross Curves, Run

49
Fig. 6m. 1.25 W. L. Cross Curves, Entrance

50
Fig. 6n. 1.25 W. L. Cross Curves, Run

51
Fig. 6o. 1.5 W. L. Cross Curves, Entrance

52
Fig. 6p. 1.5 W. L. Cross Curves, Run

53
2. Design of Ship Lines Using Creative Method

The following steps can be followed to design ship lines according to

creative method:

2.1 Drawing of load water line (LWL)

Enter tables 2 and 3 by the value of prismatic coefficient (CP) to obtain the ordinates of the load
waterline and hence draw the load waterline curve. Use Simpson's rules to ensure that the area
under the load waterline curve equal to that calculated according to the following equation:

Table 2
Ordinates of standard load waterline for medium speed ships in thousand parts of half - breadth
of the ship
Ordinate

For values of CP
number

0.54 0.55 0.56 0.57 0.58 0.59 0.60 0.61 0.62 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.66 0.67 0.68

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 103 06 110 114 120 125 130 136 142 150 156 164 172 180 190
2 221 31 242 253 264 275 286 293 310 322 334 348 361 375 390
3 325 366 380 395 410 426 441 459 475 493 511 530 550 571 592
4 490 508 525 543 560 579 596 614 633 651 690 688 705 722 740
5 625 642 660 676 695 712 730 748 765 782 799 814 830 842 854
6 741 760 777 795 810 824 839 852 865 878 890 900 910 920 930
7 839 855 870 885 899 909 919 927 935 943 950 957 962 968 973
8 918 930 940 950 958 964 970 973 977 980 983 987 989 990 992
9 975 979 982 986 990 991 992 993 994 995 995 997 997 998 998
10 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
11 995 995 995 996 996 996 996 997 997 998 998 999 1000 1000 1000
12 980 982 985 987 990 990 990 990 990 991 992 993 995 996 997
13 955 958 960 961 963 967 970 972 974 977 980 981 983 986 990
14 903 908 912 918 923 928 933 939 944 949 953 959 963 969 974
15 831 839 846 853 860 868 875 884 892 900 908 914 921 928 933
16 730 740 750 761 771 780 790 799 808 816 824 832 840 848 855
17 609 620 630 640 650 659 667 675 683 692 701 711 719 726 733
18 447 457 466 475 482 490 499 505 511 518 525 531 537 542 548
19 250 254 252 261 266 270 273 277 280 284 289 292 295 299 302
20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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 Table 3
Ordinates of standard load waterline for slow speed ships in thousand parts of half - breadth of
the ship.

For values of CP
Ordinate
number

0.64 0.65 0.66 0.67 0.68 0.69 0.70 0.71 0.72 0.73 0.74 0.75 0.76 0.77 0.78

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 177 184 192 200 209 218 227 238 249 260 271 285 299 314 330

2 365 380 393 410 425 441 460 470 493 512 531 551 572 594 615

3 457 563 581 600 618 637 655 675 695 715 735 757 779 800 820

4 703 721 740 759 774 791 808 825 841 859 875 892 910 925 941

5 825 840 855 868 880 894 907 920 930 942 953 964 973 982 990

6 910 920 930 940 949 957 955 972 979 984 990 995 998 999 1000

7 935 971 977 980 984 988 992 995 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

8 982 994 997 999 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

9 990 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

10 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

11 999 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

12 996 997 999 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

13 987 989 990 992 995 997 998 999 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

14 965 969 973 976 980 983 987 990 993 995 998 999 1000 1000 1000

15 921 929 935 940 947 952 957 961 966 970 971 977 980 983 986

16 843 851 860 869 876 883 890 895 901 908 915 921 929 935 942

17 715 725 735 754 754 762 770 779 787 795 804 815 821 831 842

18 534 542 550 557 565 572 580 589 597 606 615 625 635 645 656

19 294 297 301 305 310 314 319 323 330 337 343 354 360 367 375

20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

2.2 Drawing of Sectional Area Curve (SAC)

The sectional area curve (SAC) is a diagram showing the distribution of ship displacement along
the length of the ship as shown in figure 7. The ordinates of this curve represent the immersed
cross-sectional areas for different stations.

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 Fig. 7. Sectional Area Curve (SAC)

To draw the sectional area curve (SAC), you have to find the following
lengths:

 The length of the parallel middle body (LP). It is the length of the immersed body which
has the same cross sectional area and the same shape.
 The length of the entrance (LE). It is the length from the fore part to the beginning of the
parallel middle body.
 The length of the run (LR). It is the length from the aft perpendicular to the beginning of
the parallel middle body.

Length of entrance (LE) and length of run (LR) can be obtained from table 4.
Intermediate values can be obtained from a curve representing these values or by
interpolation.
Table 4
Length of entrance (LE) and length of run (LR)

CB 0.66 0.68 0.70 0.72 0.74 0.76 0.78 0.80 0.82

3.0 7.0 12.0 17.0 20.5 23.0 25.0 26.0 26.0

3.0 4.5 8.0 10.0 10.5 11.5 14.8 17.2 18.2

Now we can draw rectangle whose height equal to the midship area (AM) , and its length equal to
LP where:

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To draw the curves of the run and entrance, the values of CPE and CPR have to be calculated
firstly as follows:

For the calculation of CPE using the above formula, use a negative sign (-) when the center of
buoyancy lies after amid-ship.

For the calculation of CPR using the above formula, use a positive sign (+) when the center of
buoyancy lies after amid-ship. After that both entrance and run are divided into five equal
intervals (for full-shaped ships) and into eight equal intervals (for thin or war ships) as shown in
figure 8. The ordinates of SAC in the entrance and run parts are obtained from tables 5 and 6 as
a function of the mid-ship sectional area (AM).

Fig. 8. Subdivision of the Entrance and Run Sections

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 Table 5
Ordinates of the sectional-area curve, related to the area of the mid-ship section for
full-shaped ships

CPE Number of Ordinates in the Entrance and the Run Section

or
CPR 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 4.0 5.0

0.56 0.038 0.082 0.130 0.182 0.300 0.463 0.584 0.728 0.935 1.000

0.57 0.040 0.086 0.136 0.191 0.315 0.456 0.604 0.744 0.940 1.000

0.58 0.042 0.080 0.144 0.201 0.330 0.474 0.622 0.759 0.946 1.000

0.59 0.044 0.095 0.151 0.212 0.346 0.493 0.640 0.774 0.951 1.000

0.60 0.046 0.099 0.158 0.222 0.361 0.512 0.660 0.788 0.956 1.000

0.61 0.048 0.104 0.166 0.233 0.376 0.531 0.678 0.805 0.961 1.000

0.62 0.050 0.109 0.174 0.244 0.392 0.550 0.697 0.819 0.966 1.000

0.63 0.053 0.114 0.182 0.256 0.410 0.570 0.715 0.834 0.971 1.000

0.64 0.056 0.120 0.191 0.267 0.428 0.590 0.734 0.849 0.975 1.000

0.65 0.058 0.126 0.200 0.280 0.446 0.608 0.752 0.862 0.980 1.000

0.66 0.061 0.132 0.210 0.298 0.463 0.629 0.770 0.876 0.985 1.000

0.67 0.064 0.139 0.221 0.307 0.481 0.648 0.787 0.890 0.987 1.000

0.68 0.068 0.147 0.232 0.321 0.500 0.668 0.805 0.903 0.990 1.000

0.69 0.071 0.154 0.243 0.336 0.520 0.688 0.822 0.916 0.993 1.000

0.70 0.075 0.162 0.255 0.350 0.540 0.707 0.839 0.926 0.995 1.000

0.71 0.080 0.170 0.268 0.367 0.561 0.727 0.855 0.938 0.997 1.000

0.72 0.085 0.180 0.282 0.385 0.592 0.746 0.870 0.948 0.998 1.000

0.73 0.090 0.191 0.297 0.402 0.603 0.766 0.885 0.957 0.999 1.000

0.74 0.096 0.202 0.312 0.422 0.625 0.785 0.899 0.966 1.000 1.000

0.75 0.102 0.214 0.323 0.442 0.648 0.805 0.912 0.973 1.000 1.000

0.76 0.108 0.226 0.346 0.462 0.670 0.824 0.925 0.980 1.000 1.000

0.77 0.115 0.239 0.364 0.484 0.694 0.844 0.938 0.986 1.000 1.000

0.78 0.123 0.254 0.384 0.507 0.718 0.863 0.950 0.990 1.000 1.000

0.79 0.130 0.269 0.405 0.532 0.741 0.882 0.960 0.994 1.000 1.000

0.80 0.139 0.286 0.427 0.558 0.765 0.900 0.970 0.996 1.000 1.000

0.81 0.148 0.303 0.452 0.584 0.790 0.920 0.979 0.999 1.000 1.000

58
0.82 0.159 0.324 0.477 0.612 0.816 0.937 0.986 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.83 0.170 0.344 0.504 0.642 0.840 0.953 0.993 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.84 0.182 0.336 0.534 0.673 0.864 0.966 0.997 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.85 0.196 0.392 0.566 0.406 0.887 0.977 0.999 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.86 0.213 0.422 0.600 0.740 0.908 0.986 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.87 0.231 0.454 0.637 0.774 0.928 0.992 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.88 0.254 0.489 0.678 0.810 0.948 0.997 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.89 0.277 0.530 0.723 0.846 0.965 0.999 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.90 0.307 0.576 0.769 0.881 0.980 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.91 0.342 0.628 0.816 0.914 0.990 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.92 0.386 0.688 0.862 0.948 0.998 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.93 0.442 0.752 0.904 0.972 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.94 0.510 0.818 0.940 0.988 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

0.95 0.613 0.885 0.972 0.997 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

Table 6
Ordinates of the sectional-area curve, related to the area of the mid-ship section
for thin ships

CPE Number of Ordinates in the Entrance and the Run Section

or
CPR 0.5 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
0.500 0.010 0.040 0.150 0.310 0.500 0.690 0.855 0.961 1.000

0.502 0.012 0.043 0.153 0.313 0.504 0.692 0.857 0.962 1.000

0.504 0.013 0.046 0.156 0.317 0.508 0.695 0.859 0.963 1.000

0.506 0.014 0.048 0.160 0.321 0.511 0.698 0.860 0.963 1.000

0.508 0.015 0.050 0.163 0.325 0.514 0.700 0.861 0.964 1.000

0.510 0.016 0.052 0.166 0.329 0.517 0.702 0.862 0.965 1.000

0.512 0.017 0.054 0.170 0.332 0.520 0.704 0.863 0.965 1.000

0.514 0.018 0.057 0.174 0.336 0.522 0.706 0.864 0.966 1.000

0.516 0.019 0.059 0.178 0.340 0.526 0.708 0.865 0.966 1.000

0.518 0.020 0.061 0.181 0.343 0.530 0.711 0.866 0.967 1.000

0.520 0.021 0.063 0.185 0.346 0.533 0.715 0.867 0.967 1.000

59
0.522 0.022 0.065 0.189 0.350 0.536 0.715 0.868 0.968 1.000

0.524 0.023 0.068 0.191 0.354 0.539 0.718 0.870 0.968 1.000

0.526 0.024 0.070 0.195 0.358 0.542 0.720 0.871 0.968 1.000

0.528 0.025 0.072 0.198 0.361 0.546 0.722 0.872 0.969 1.000

0.530 0.026 0.074 0.201 0.365 0.549 0.724 0.873 0.969 1.000

0.532 0.028 0.076 0.205 0.369 0.552 0.727 0.875 0.969 1.000

0.534 0.030 0.078 0.209 0.371 0.555 0.729 0.876 0.969 1.000

0.536 0.031 0.080 0.212 0.375 0.558 0.731 0.877 0.970 1.000

0.538 0.032 0.082 0.215 0.380 0.561 0.733 0.878 0.970 1.000

0.540 0.033 0.084 0.219 0.383 0.564 0.735 0.879 0.970 1.000

0.542 0.034 0.087 0.222 0.387 0.567 0.738 0.880 0.970 1.000

0.544 0.035 0.090 0.226 0.390 0.570 0.741 0.881 0.971 1.000

0.546 0.036 0.092 0.230 0.394 0.573 0.743 0.882 0.971 1.000

0.548 0.038 0.094 0.233 0.398 0.576 0.745 0.883 0.971 1.000

0.550 0.039 0.096 0.236 0.401 0.579 0.748 0.885 0.971 1.000

0.552 0.040 0.098 0.240 0.405 0.581 0.750 0.886 0.972 1.000

0.554 0.041 0.100 0.243 0.409 0.585 0.752 0.887 0.972 1.000

0.556 0.042 0.102 0.247 0.412 0.588 0.754 0.888 0.972 1.000

0.558 0.043 0.104 0.251 0.416 0.591 0.756 0.889 0.972 1.000

0.560 0.045 0.106 0.254 0.420 0.594 0.758 0.890 0.973 1.000

0.562 0.046 0.108 0.257 0.423 0.597 0.760 0.891 0.973 1.000

0.564 0.048 0.110 0.260 0.427 0.600 0.762 0.892 0.973 1.000

0.566 0.050 0.112 0.263 0.430 0.603 0.764 0.893 0.973 1.000

0.568 0.051 0.115 0.266 0.434 0.606 0.766 0.894 0.973 1.000

0.570 0.052 0.118 0.270 0.438 0.609 0.769 0.895 0.974 1.000

0.572 0.053 0.120 0.274 0.442 0.612 0.771 0.896 0.974 1.000

0.574 0.054 0.122 0.278 0.446 0.615 0.773 0.897 0.974 1.000

0.576 0.055 0.124 0.281 0.450 0.618 0.775 0.898 0.974 1.000

0.578 0.057 0.127 0.284 0.453 0.621 0.778 0.899 0.975 1.000

60
After drawing the sectional area curve (SAC), divide the ship's length into 20 intervals
and by Simpson's rules ensure that the volume under the sectional area curve equal to
the ship's volume of displacement and ( XCB ) has the same value obtained from table 7.
If not, trial and error have to be done to get the required volume of displacement and
position of ( XCB ).

Table 7
Position of Longitudinal Center of Buoyancy (XCB)

CB 0.550 0.575 0.600 0.625 0.650 0.675 0.700 0.725 0.750 0.775 0.800 0.825

-2.50 -2.45 -2.20 -1.80 -1.30 -0.50 0.40 0.90 1.30 1.60 1.80 2.00

2.3 Drawing of Body Plan

Once a curve of area of immersed sections (SAC) has been prepared and with the associated load
water line (LWL), then the next step is the preparations of the body plan. The following steps
can be followed to draw the body plan;

 Estimate the width of the flat plate keel using the following equation (GL – Rule) or any
other equation:

 The rise of floor could be taken as 0.5 ~ 1.0 degree. In fine form ships low CM implies
large rise of floor and large bilge radius. Bilge radius (R) can be calculated using the
formula:

 For every station, find the area of station from the sectional area curve and breadth of
station from the load waterline curve. Then draw the shape of this section according to
figure 9.

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 Fig. 9. Section Design

 When this process is carried out for all station a body plan to the load water line is
obtained.
 Draw the half breadth plan and sheer plan and make a continuous fairing for the lines.
Check the lines by the buttocks and diagonals.

62