Abstract: In order to study the physical details of viscous flow in ship roll motions and improve the accuracy of ship roll damping numerical simulation, the application of the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique is investigated in model tests of forced ship rolling in calm water. The hydrodynamic force and flow field at the bilge region are simultaneously measured for barges at different amplitudes and frequencies in which the self-made forced rolling facility was used. In the model test, the viscous flow variation with the time around the bilge region was studied during ship rolling motion. The changes in ship roll damping coefficients with the rolling amplitude and period were also investigated. A comparison of the model test results with the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) results shows that the numerical ship roll damping coefficients agree well with the model test results, while the differences in the local flow details exist between the CFD results and model test results. Further research into the model test technique and CFD application is required.