Responses of a full-scale ship subjected to a solitary wave

Abstract

A three-dimensional fully nonlinear time-domain method is introduced to simulate a ship encountering a solitary wave. The mixed Eulerian–Lagrangian approach based on the boundary element method is adopted to solve the boundary value problem. A convergence study is carried out to validate the numerical approach. High navigation speeds and large wave amplitudes are then considered. The wave elevation and pressure distribution as the solitary wave propagates from the bow to the stern of the ship are investigated in detail, and the influence of the wave height, Froude number, and incidence angle on the ship's responses is analyzed. It is concluded that the maximum pressure occurs at the bottom of the ship below the crest of the wave, while a trapped wave appears behind the solitary wave and remains near the bow of the ship when the wave height is large.