Fluid Resonance Between Twin Floating Barges with Roll Motion Under Wave Action

The wave-induced fluid resonance between twin side-by-side rectangular barges coupled with the roll motion of the twin barges is investigated by both numerical simulation and physical model test. A 2D numerical wave flume, based on an open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package OpenFOAM, is applied for the numerical simulation. After numerical validations and convergent verifications, the characteristics of the fluid resonance in the gap between the twin rolling side-by-side barges are examined. The resonant frequency of the oscillating fluid in the gap between the twin rolling barges decreases compared with that between the twin fixed barges. Generally, the twin barges roll in the opposite directions, and their equilibrium positions lean oppositely with respect to the initial vertical direction. A physical model test is carried out for a further investigation, in which the twin barges are set oppositely leaning and fixed. From the present experimental results, a linear decrease of the resonant frequency with the increasing leaning angle is found. Combined with the numerical results, the deflection of the equilibrium positions of the twin barges is a relevant factor for the resonant frequency. Besides, the effects of the gap width and incident wave height on the fluid resonance coupled with roll motion are examined.