The application of three-dimensional hydroelastic analysis of ship structures in Pekeris hydro-acoustic waveguide environment

The hydroelastic analysis and sonoelastic analysis methods are incorporated with the Green＇s function of the Pekeris ocean hydro-acoustic waveguide model to produce a three-dimensional sonoelastic analysis method for ships in the ocean hydro-acoustic environment. The seabed condition is represented by a penetrable boundary of prescribed density and sound speed. This method is employed in this paper to predict the vibration and acoustic radiation of a 1 500 t Small Water Area Twin Hull （SWATH） ship in shallow sea acoustic environment. The wet resonant frequencies and radiation sound source levels are predicted and compared with the measured results of the ship in trial.

A direct coupling analysis method of hydroelastic responses of VLFS in complicated ocean geographical environment

In this paper a direct coupling analysis method (DCAM) of hydroelastic responses of a very large floating structures (VLFS) in complicated geographical environment is presented. In this method the three-dimensional hydroelasticity theory of floating bodies is combined with the shallow water wave theory, to allow for proper description of the influence of uneven seabed and sheltering effect of islands on the hydroelastic responses of a VLFS deployed near island and reefs in shallow sea. This method and the numerical procedures were verified and validated by comparison-between the predictions and the model test results of a 3-module VLFS and an 8-module VLFS in two simulated shallow sea regions with different seabed topography.

The progress in the verification of key technologies for floating structures near islands and reefs

In 2019 a Scientific Research&Demonstration Platform was deployed near islands and reefs in South China Sea by a joint research group of 7 institutes and universities in China.It is a simplified small model of a two-module semi-submersible-type VLFS.The test on site has continued for more than one and half years since then for long-term observations to validate the developed key technologies for design and behavior predictions of floating structures deployed near islands and reefs.An integrated information system was set up to continuously collect and inspect the data of the encountered waves,structure responses,connector forces,mooring line forces,anti-corrosion status of the platform,the performance efficiencies of a floating breakwater nearby and a wave energy converter attached on the breakwater.In this paper,the status of the on-site measurements and validations of the key technologies are briefly described.

A direct coupling analysis method and its application to the Scientific Research and Demonstration Platform

Design of a very large floating structure(VLFS)deployed near islands and reefs,different from those in the open sea,inevitably faces new technical challenges including numerical analysis methods.In this paper,a direct coupling analysis method(DCAM)has been established based on the Boussinesq equations and the three-dimensional hydroelasisity theory with Rankine source method to analyze the responses of a VLFS in shallow sea with complicated geographical environment.Model tests have been carried out to validate the DCAM.To further verify the numerical methods and investigate the performance of such a VLFS,a“Scientific Research and Demonstration Platform(SRDP)”was built and deployed in 2019 at the site about 1000 m off an island with water depth around 40m in South China Sea.It is a simplified small model of a two-module semi-submersible-type VLFS.The numerical simulation of its responses on severe waves with focus on motions and connector forces is conduct by DCAM,and compared with the on-site measurements.Good agreement has been achieved.This approves the DCAM as a feasible tool for design and safety assessment of a VLFS deployed near islands and reefs.

A time domain three-dimensional sono-elastic method for ships' vibration and acoustic radiation analysis in water

The classical three-dimensional hydroelasticity of ships is extend to include the effect of fluid compressibility, which yields the three-dimensional sono-elasticity of ships. To enable the predictions of coupled transient or nonlinear vibrations and acoustic radiations of ship structures, a time domain three-dimensional sono-elastic analysis method of acoustic responses of a floating structure is presented. The frequency domain added mass and radiation damping coefficients of the ship are first calculated by a three-dimensional frequency domain analysis method, from which a retardation function is derived and converted into the generalized time domain radiation force through a convolution integral. On this basis the generalized time domain sono-elastic equations of motion of the ship hull in water are established for calculation of the steady-state or transient-state excitation induced coupled vibrations and acoustic radiations of the ship. The generalized hydrodynamic coefficients, structural vibrations and underwater acoustic radiations of an elastic spherical shell excited by a concentrated pulsating force are illustrated and compared with analytical solutions with good agreement. The numerical results of a rectangular floating body are also presented to discuss the numerical error resultant from truncation of the upper integration limit in the Fourier integral of the frequency domain added mass coefficients for the retardation function.

An application of network modeling method to scientific research and demonstration platform-Connector load analysis

A new approach referred as“the network modeling method”was developed by the authors to analyze the behaviors of marine structures.In this paper the method is briefly described and applied to predict the loads acting on the connectors between the two modules of the Scientific Research and Demonstration Platform(SRDP),which was deployed in a complicated wave environment near islands and reefs in South China Sea.Based on this method,the response amplitude operators(RAOs)of the connector loads of the SRDP in regular waves,and the time variations of the connector loads of the SRDP in an on-site measured random sea state are predicted and presented.The significant stresses at 20 spots of the local connection structure induced by the connector loads in the sea state are further calculated.The comparisons between the predicted and the on-site measured stresses confirm that the network modeling method is feasible to some extent and especially useful for design of the connectors’arrangement,estimation of the connector loads and the related structural safety of a multi-module floating structure in early design stage.