On the numerical modelling of ship forces during lockage

When designing navigation locks, several parameters must be considered: Apart from the construction and operation costs also the operation speed and lockage safety must be considered. The safety of the lockage is often expressed in terms of the acceptable ship forces. Traditionally, apart from physical models different kinds of numerical models are used to determine the speed and safety of operation: During the predesign phase often simple analytical approaches are used, while in later design phases more sophisticated one- or three-dimensional numerical models or physical models are used independently or in a hybrid modelling approach. With these models the flow rates, the development of the water levels and the resulting forces on the ship can be computed or measured. While the application of three-dimensional numerical models for the lock filling process was in the past limited to very few and extraordinary projects, nowadays their application becomes more and more engineering practice. Here we are giving an overview of the numerical modelling methodologies and are presenting the state-of-the-art for three-dimensional numerical models.