Fluid–structure interaction analysis of curved wedges entering into water

Abstract

The water entry of wedges with curvature differs significantly from that of linear wedges, which have been fully investigated and formulated. The safety and integrity of structures prompt an urgent investigation into the mechanism by which the curvature affects slamming loads and structural responses during water entry. This study examines the slamming force characteristics, pressure distributions, fluid jet evolutions, and structural response behaviors of two-dimensional curved wedge sections, considering five different curvatures and two panel thicknesses. A two-way coupling fluid–structure interaction (FSI) solver has been proposed within an open-source framework. The FSI solver was validated against published literature to ensure its high-fidelity. The small deadrise angle results in a more complicated time-domain characteristics for the slamming pressure, with a gradual transition from a single peak to a double peak. The half-peak pressure duration time were defined, and the quantitative results reveal that the hydroelastic effect of the linear wedge is significantly higher than the curved wedges. When considering the geometric curvature, the elastic wedges do not consistently reduce the peak slamming pressure and lengthen the pulse time. Additionally, large deformations generated by the panel vibrations alter the evolutionary pattern of the fluid jet. In contrast to the linear wedge, the structural responses of the curved wedges show distinctive two-stage behaviors.