Rankine source method analysis for nonlinear hydroelastic responses of a container ship in regular oblique waves

Abstract

Abstract In this study, some numerical solutions for the hydroelastic problems of bodies are studied by means of Rankine source method. Firstly, Rankine source method is generalised to the elastic modes. The difference method is used to obtain the source strength. In order to eliminate the errors in solving process, a damping correction factor is applied. Secondly, the numerical predictions of the nonlinear hydroelastic responses of a 13000-TEU container ship are presented. In the hydrodynamic part, the nonlinear hydrostatic restoring force and nonlinear incident wave force caused by instantaneous wetted surface as well as slamming force are considered. In the structure part, the finite element method is used to solve vertical and horizontal oscillation modes. Finally, the hydroelastic method is extended to the oblique waves by adopting an autopilot model to consider the rudder force/moment. Variation of the different load components with wave direction is studied. The present numerical results show acceptable agreement with previous experimental results.