A nodal position finite element model for fluid-structure interaction analysis of floating bodies with mooring

Abstract

A numerical model based on the Nodal Position Finite Element Method (NPFEM) is proposed in this work for fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis of moored bodies subject to multiphase free surface flows. The semi-implicit CBS (Characteristic-Based Split) method is utilized here for discretization of the flow fundamental equations in the context of the Finite Element Method, where linear tetrahedral elements are adopted. Turbulence is analyzed using Large Eddy Simulation (LES) with the dynamic sub-grid scale model and the Level Set method is utilized for simulation of multiphase free surface flows. The structural system is modeled using a three-dimensional rigid body approach for the floating object, while the mooring is discretized using a geometrically nonlinear cable formulation based on the NPFEM. A partitioned coupling scheme is adopted for fluid-structure interaction analysis taking into account the fluid-structure and cable-structure couplings, where the flow equations are kinematically described employing an Arbitrary Lagrangean-Eulerian (ALE) formulation with a numerical scheme for mesh motion. The algorithms constituting the numerical model are verified first considering classical applications on fluid dynamics and FSI, in addition to applications involving the dynamic analysis of cables. Finally, problems involving floating bodies with and without mooring are simulated to demonstrate the applicability and accuracy of the proposed numerical model.