Nonlinear dynamic behaviors of a floating structure in focused waves

Abstract

Floating structures are commonly seen in coastal and offshore engineering. They are often subjected to extreme waves and, therefore, their nonlinear dynamic behaviors are of great concern. In this paper, an in-house CFD code is developed to investigate the accurate prediction of nonlinear dynamic behaviors of a two-dimensional (2-D) box-shaped floating structure in focused waves. Computations are performed by an enhanced Constrained Interpolation Profile (CIP)-based Cartesian grid model, in which a more accurate VOF (Volume of Fluid) method, the THINC/SW scheme (THINC: tangent of hyperbola for interface capturing; SW: Slope Weighting), is used for interface capturing. A focusing wave theory is used for the focused wave generation. The wave component of constant steepness is chosen. Comparisons between predictions and physical measurements show good agreement including body motions and free surface profiles. Although the overall agreement is good, some discrepancies are observed for impact pressure on the superstructure due to water on deck. The effect of grid resolution on the results is checked. With a fine grid, no obvious improvement is seen in the global body motions and impact pressures due to water on deck. It is concluded that highly nonlinear phenomena, such as distorted free surface, large-amplitude body motions, and violent impact flow, have been predicted successfully.