Nonlinear hydrodynamic responses of submerged moving payload in vicinity of a crane barge in waves

The wave interaction with a submerged cylindrical payload subjected to constrained motions in presence of a nearby floating crane barge is investigated in the three-dimensional numerical wave tank using a fully nonlinear potential flow model in the time domain. Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the hydrodynamic features of this submerged payload under pendulum motion in water waves as well as while it moves towards the sea bed at a constant vertical velocity. It is known that the presence of multiple side by side floating bodies in waves can create significant drift motion. In the present study the similar drift motion is observed for the side by side floating barge and submerged payload and it appears that the submerged payload under constrained motions may face a very large mean drift motion of nearly seven times that of the incident wave amplitude in the beam sea upstream condition. Emphasis is also given towards investigating and understanding the influences of natural frequency of the payload and shielding effect due to the presence of the floating barge. It is found that natural frequency coupled with shielding effect generates remarkable low frequency components in payload responses both in the head sea and the beam sea situations. The effect of different cable lengths, wave maker frequencies and downward moving velocities on payload responses under several geometric setups are studied and compared, and interesting features such as increased low frequency movement of the payload near the natural frequency region and existence of considerable low frequency motions even at a greater depth (while the payload is quite below the free surface) are observed.