"SLAMMING" damage sustained by the forward bottom structure of ships has been a consequential problem for over half a century; it has been a substantial contributor to the total cost of repair of hull damage to the U.S. Flagships. The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers has a panel of its T&R organization studying the problem of ship slamming, its causes, and its effects. The work of researchers the world over are being reviewed and assimilated, the analyses and recommendations evaluated. It is appreciated by all that the problem of ship slamming has not yet been solved and is of such complexity, that it will most probably remain unsolved for some time into the future. However, much is now known about slamming and it is believed that it would be of service to the technical community if the Panel's Notes on Slamming were prepared in a form that could be of use in the future design of ships. By so doing, it is hoped that there will result in an order of magnitude reduction in the risk of forward bottom damage to ships, the short term goal for research on ship slamming.
The Notes are organized into five chapters which the Panel believes best reflects the major subdivisions of interest in the problem. The first chapter qualitatively describes the general problem, its history, and its consequences. The second and third chapters present hydrodynamic and structural aspects of slamming, giving both theoretical and experimental evaluations of various phenomena involved. Chapter four presents structural requirements for ship's forward bottoms as set down in the construction rules of several classification societies, while in chapter five, interim design methods are set down that the Panel believes will provide guidance for the development of more successful structural performance in ship forward bottoms.
The Notes are intended as an introduction to, and summary of, many developments and theories. It is not possible to fully discuss all the work on Ship Slamming in this document. It is anticipated that in those areas of particular interest, the reader will obtain original documents and determine the applicability, limitations, and assumptions of the work to their ship designs.