Springing

Springing as a nautical term refers to global vertical resonant hull girder vibration due to oscillating wave loads along the hull of the ship.

The hydrodynamic theory of springing is not yet fully understood due to the complex description of the surface waves and structure interaction. It is, however, well known that larger ships with longer resonant periods are more susceptible to this type of vibration. Ships of this type include very large crude carriers and bulk carriers, but possibly also container vessels. The container ships are more slender, have higher service speeds and have more pronounced bow flares. Container ships are also known to experience significant whipping (transient) vibrations from bow impacts. Blunt ships may also experience whipping especially with flat bottom impacts in the bow area. The bottom part of the bow however rarely exits from the water on such ships. Vibration from whipping may also increase the extreme loading of ships potentially resulting in vessels breaking in two in severe storms.