Rocks & mirror
WÄRTSILÄ
Encyclopedia of Marine and Energy Technology

Bow Flare Estimator (BFE)

marine

A guidance tool developed on the basis of seakeeping model test results. BFE at a station x = X/Lbp tan@, x = distance from midships, @ = the smallest angle of flare against waterplane at the station.

Bow flare impacts have been measured for several ferries and passenger cruise ships in head and bow quartering seas significant wave height varying from 1.5m up to 8m. Ferries with a BFE value below 0.50 typically show good performance in full scale. Maximum measured full-scale bow wave impacts in these cases were below 220 kN/m2 in typical wave conditions, and below 300 kN/m2 in extreme wave conditions.