Hydroelastic analysis of oblique irregular waves with a pontoon-type VLFS edged with dual inclined perforated plates

The fluid-structure interaction of oblique irregular waves with a pontoon-type very large floating structure (VLFS) edged with dual horizontal/inclined perforated plates has been investigated in the context of the direct time domain modal expansion theory. For the hydroelastic analysis, the boundary element method (BEM) based on time domain Kelvin sources is implemented to establish water wave model including the viscous effect of the perforated plates through the Darcy’s law, and the finite element method (FEM) is adopted for solving the deflections of the VLFS modeled as an equivalent Mindlin thick plate. In order to enhance the computing efficiency, the interpolation-tabulation scheme is applied to assess rapidly and accurately the free-surface Green function and its partial derivatives in finite water depth, and the boundary integral equation of a half or quarter VLFS model is further established taking advantage of symmetry of flow field and structure. Also, the numerical solutions are validated against a series of experimental tests. In the comparison, the empirical relationship between the actual porosity and porous parameter is successfully applied. Numerical solutions and model tests are executed to determine the hydroelastic response characteristics of VLFS with an attached anti-motion device. This study examines the effects of porosity, submerged depth, inclined angle and gap distance of such dual perforated anti-motion plates on the hydroelastic response to provide information regarding the optimal design. The effects of oblique wave angle on the performance of anti-motion and hydroelastic behavior of VLFS are also emphatically examined.     

三维水弹性软件并行化的初步实现

为了满足超大型浮体尺寸巨大、结构复杂的分析需求,以及三维水弹性软件商用化的快速计算要求,文章通过对已有三维水弹性程序的分析,设计并实现了多参数并行化快速计算,为超大型浮体进一步水弹性分析奠定了良好基础。文中以常规船舶和超大型浮式平台为例,测试了并行化软件的正确性与快速性。结果表明,并行化改造达到了快速计算的效果。     

Transient responses of a VLFS during landing and take-off of an airplane

The transient elastic deformation of a pontoon-type very large floating structure (VLFS) caused by the landing and take-off of an airplane is computed by the time-domain mode-expansion method. The memory effects in hydrodynamic forces are taken into account, and great care is paid to numerical accuracy in evaluating all the coefficients appearing in the simultaneous differential equations for the elastic motion of a VLFS. The time-histories of the imparted force and the position and velocity of an airplane during landing and take-off are modeled with data from a Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet. Simulation results are shown of 3-D structural waves on a VLFS and the associated unsteady drag force on an airplane, which is of engineering importance, particularly during take-off. The results for landing show that the airplane moves faster than the structural waves generated in the early stage, and the waves overtake the airplane as its speed decreases to zero. The results for take-off are essentially the same as those for landing, except that the structural waves develop slowly in the early stage, and no obstacle exists on the runway after the take-off of airplane. The additional drag force on an airplane due to the elastic responses of the runway considered in this work was found to be small in magnitude.     

On the dispersion relation of hydroelastic waves in a plate

This paper deals with the dispersion relation of hydroelastic waves in pontoon-type very large floating structures (VLFS) using a simple beam modeling, where the term hydroelastic waves means propagation of deflection vibrations in VLFS. The purpose of this paper is to show the properties of the hydroelastic waves. The dispersion relation of hydroelastic waves propagating in an infinite plate floating on the water is derived based on the linear water wave theory. The effects of the water depth and of the bending rigidity of the floating plate on the wavelength, phase velocity, and group velocity of the hydroelastic waves are shown theoretically or numerically. Then, the dispersion relation of hydroelastic waves in a finite plate floating on shallow water is investigated. It is shown that the wavelength or the phase velocity of the hydroelastic waves varies with the location in the plate. Received for publication on April 7, 1999; accepted on Aug. 20, 1999     

船舶碰撞载荷对移动海上基地连接器载荷的影响

移动海上基地属于超大型浮式结构物,在营运过程中会遇到飞机坠落,船舶碰撞等事故情况。事故载荷不仅会对超大型浮式结构物的局部结构产生破坏作用,而且会对超大型浮式结构物的薄弱环节——连接器产生附加载荷。以船舶碰撞为例,采用简化的RMFC模型,然后通过SESAM软件计算水动力系数,将其代入多刚体运动微分方程后用数值方法求解,研究特殊载荷对连接器载荷的影响。考虑不同连接器刚度以及不同撞击部位工况,估算碰撞引起的连接器载荷的数量级,并与波浪载荷引起的连接器载荷进行了比较。这为今后移动海上基地连接器设计提供了指导和依据。     

Structural safety assessment of a pontoon-type VLFS considering damage to the breakwater

 A structural safety assessment of a pontoon-type very large floating structure (VLFS) surrounded by a gravity-type breakwater was carried out for extreme wave conditions by considering the damage to the breakwater. Bending and shear collapses are considered to be a failure mode of the floating structure, while overturning damages the breakwater. The probability of the breakwater overturning, and the transmitted wave height before and after damage to the breakwater, are evaluated using design formulae for port and harbor facilities in Japan. The ultimate bending and shear strengths of the floating structure are calculated by the idealized structural unit method (ISUM) and FEM, respectively. The calculated failure probability for the floating structure is compared with the specified target safety level. It was found that the floating structure under consideration is most likely to fail by bending in transverse waves, and that the corresponding failure probability satisfies the target level. Received: September 12, 2002 / Accepted: October 4, 2002 Acknowledgment. The authors are grateful to Dr. Shigeo Ohmatsu, National Maritime Research Institute, Japan, for allowing us to use the program of hydroelastic response analysis. Address correspondence to: M. Fujikubo (e-mail: fujikubo@naoe.hiroshima-u.ac.jp) Updated from the Japanese original, which won the 2002 SNAJ prize (J Soc Arthit Jpn 2002;190:337–345)     

三维水弹性力学中的结构广义质量计算

该文给出了三维水弹性力学中弹性模态位移振型归一化时广义质量的计算方法，并应用三维有限元方法计算了箱式大型浮体结构的固有频率和广质量，经与均匀梁解析解的比较表明，两种方法差异不大，因此，采用均匀染解析解来计算这种结构的固有频率和广义质量是完全可行的，简化了计算工作。     

On the hydroelastic responses of a very large floating structure in waves

New numerical methods are presented for hydroelastic analyses of a very large floating structure (VLFS) of several kilometers length and width. Several methods are presented that accelerate computation without an appreciable loss of accuracy. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methods are validated through comparisons with other numerical results as well as with existing experimental results. After confirming the effectiveness of the methods presented, various characteristics of the hydroelastic behavior of VLFSs are examined, using the proposed methods as numerical tools. Received for publication on Dec. 3, 1999; accepted on Dec. 15, 1999     

Analysis of the slowly varying drift force on a very large floating structure in multidirectional random seas

In designing the mooring system of a very large floating structure (VLFS), it is essential to estimate the slowly varying drift force in random seas. For a small vessel, Hsu's method or Newman's approximation may be used to simulate this slowly varying drift force. However, based on experiments and/or field observations, it was found that the slowly varying drift force acting on a VLFS could be reduced to a great extent from the simulated values based on those methods. Thus, the conventional methods are not applicable for a VLFS. This discovery led to the development of several methods for estimating the slowly varying drift force on a VLFS, e.g., Namba et al. (J Soc Nav Archit Jpn 186:235–242, 1999), and Shimada and Maruyama (J Soc Nav Archit Jpn 190:347–351, 2001). However, Namba's method is only applicable to a pontoon-type VLFS with a shallow draft, and Shimada's method is too simplified to account for the general shape of a VLFS and elastic deformation. These methods have been expanded in this article, and by our proposed method, any shape of VLFS and the effect of elastic deformation of the VLFS can be included. Formulations and several numerical examples are given.     

近岛礁超大型浮体连接器载荷研究

对于布置在岛礁附近的浮体,复杂海底地形的作用不可忽略.文章基于RMFC模型,同时将地形作为固定物体,研究了复杂海底地形对布置于岛礁附近的超大型浮体的运功响应和连接器载荷的影响.数值计算结果表明,地形的存在对浮体绕射力存在显著的影响,同时增加了低频区域的连接器载荷.