USSB Unité d'Étude de la Stabilité dans les Bateaux

The Unit to study Stability in Boats, "USSB", has been designed to study the stability and hydrostatics of ships. Besides, the buoyancy of the floating body, the metacenter and the center of mass can also be determined.

The unit consists of a flotation tank where different models of ship are submerged held by a clamping mechanism equipped with a clinometer. It allows the performance of rolling and righting experiments.

The unit is supplied with a 1/70 scale model of a cargo vessel that includes several transverse watertight bulkheads in representative positions. Each compartment is equipped with individual flooding valves for the study of the compartments flooding effects.

There are three alternative ship models available for optional study.

A dynamometer is used to measure the righting moment of the ship and a clinometer measures the inclination. Additional ballast and masses may be used to adjust the center of masses and the heel to perform further experiments.