Barge Design

I am looking for information on the optimum design for the front of a barge. I am not sure whether it is better to have a square front from a top view or a pointed fornt like a canoe. I am pretty sure it will not plane out if that will make a difference but it may be crossing some rough water at times. ARe there any good design programs to figure the differences in the two designs?

 

Could you please provide a little more information.


Will you build the barge yourself or is it already constructed?
Of what material is the hull made?
Is the barge to be of an open hopper design or decked over?
Will the barge be deck loaded or carry cargo internally?
What general dimensions are you considering, including freeboard?
Will the barge be towed or pushed?
How much power will the towing vessel have available?
Will there be more than one barge in the tow?
How rough are the seas you expect....1-2', 3-5', 6'+ ?

These are just some starting points. The answers to these will being to lead you in one direction or another and will most certainly generate other questions

 

The complete barge will be home made. It will be constructed of steel and will be decked with the cargo on the deck. THe approximate dimensions are 11' by 38' and it will encounter mostly 1'-3' waves. It will probably draw about 8-10 inches of water. It will be powred from the rear by a 100 - 200 hp outboard and will not be towing or pushing or be towed or pushed. Thanks for the help.

 

I don't think you need a cfd program or anything of that kind to guess that if you have an 11' beam and 8 - 10" of draft most of the water is going to be deflected under the bow rather being deflected round the sides. I think that means that raking the bow and/or radiusing the corner between the bow plating and the bottom plating is going to be more useful than radiusing the corners between the bow plating and the side plating. Also I guess that you would ideally like a rectangular 11' by 38' platform to load your cargo, a canoe shaped bow added to that is using up steel and making your whole barge bigger without giving you much in the way of extra useful cargo space. Assuming you go for a more or less rectangular plan with a raked forward bow I imagine the angle of rake depends how much drag matters to you. I have seen barges which make only occasional short trips built with vertical plating at the bow, ie just a box. Barges which move about more mostly seem to have about 45 degrees rake to the bow, just from general observation. Perhaps someone here has some tank test results covering this type of hull.

John

 

I did a quick calculation of what a steel barge of that size displaces empty. It will be around 18,000 lb. If you put any cargo the draft will be much more than 10".