Inertia, Damping, and Wave Excitation of Heaving Coaxial Cylinders

The method of matched eigenfunction expansions is applied in this paper to obtain the hydrodynamic coefficients of a pair of coaxial cylinders, each of which can have independent movement. The geometry idealizes a device for extracting ocean wave energy in the heave mode. The effects of geometric variations and the interaction between cylinders on the hydrodynamic properties are discussed. Analytical expressions for the low-frequency behavior of the hydrodynamic coefficients are also derived. The wave-exciting force on the bottom surface of either one of the cylinders is derived using the radiation solutions, with a generalized form of the Haskind relation developed for this geometry. The presented results are immediately applicable to examine free motion of coaxial cylinders in a wave field.

On the Effect of Hull Girder Flexibility on the Vertical Wave Bending Moment for Ultra Large Container Vessels

Currently, a number of very large container ships are being built and more are on order, and some concerns have been expressed about the importance of the reduced hull girder stiffness to the wave-induced loads. The main concern is related to the fatigue life, but also a possible increase in the global hull girder loads as consequence of the increased hull flexibility must be considered. This is especially so as the rules of the classification societies do not explicitly account for the effect of hull flexibility on the global loads. In the present paper an analysis has been carried out for the 9,400 TEU container ship used as case-ship in the EU project TULCS (Tools for Ultra Large Container Ships). A non-linear time-domain strip theory is used for the hydrodynamic analysis of the vertical bending moment amidships in sagging and hogging conditions for a flexible and a rigid modelling of the ship. The theory takes into account non-linear radiation forces (memory effects) through the use of a set of higher order differential equations. The non-linear hydrostatic restoring forces and non-linear Froude-Krylov forces are determined accurately at the instantaneous position of the ship in the waves. Slamming forces are determined by a standard momentum formulation. The hull flexibility is modelled as a non-prismatic Timoshenko beam. Generally, good agreement with experimental results and more accurate numerical predictions has previously been obtained in a number of studies. The statistical analysis is done using the First Order Reliability Method (FORM) supplemented with Monte Carlo simulations. Furthermore, strip-theory calculations are compared to model tests in regular waves of different wave lengths using a segmented, flexible model of the case-ship and good agreement is obtained for the longest of the waves. For the shorter waves the agreement is less good. The discrepancy in the amplitudes of the bending moment can most probably be explained by an underestimation on the effect of momentum slamming in the strip-theory applied.

Dynamic Analysis and Configuration Design of a Two-Component Wave-Energy Absorber

The wave-energy absorber being developed at UC Berkeley is modeled as a moored compound cylinder, with an outer cylinder sliding along a tension-tethered inner cylinder. With rigid-body dynamics, it is first shown that the surge and pitch degrees of freedom are decoupled from the heave motion. The heaving motion of the outer cylinder is analyzed and its geometric proportions (radii and drafts ratios) are optimized for wave-energy extraction. Earlier works of Yeung [1] and Chau and Yeung [2,3] are used in the present heave-motion study. The coupled surge-pitch motion can be solved and can provide the contact forces between the cylinders. The concept of capture width is used to characterize the energy extraction: its maximization leads to optimal energy extraction. The methodology presented provides the optimal geometry in terms of non-dimensional proportions of the device. It is found that a smaller radius and deeper draft for the outer cylinder will lead to a larger capture width and larger resulting motion.

Asymmetric FPSO Roll Response due to the Influence of Lines Arrangement

In the development of the mooring design of FPSOs in spread mooring system (SMS) configuration, it was observed that the utilization of asymmetric riser arrangement in deep waters might lead to an asymmetrical roll response of the FPSO. In particular, concentrating all riser connections on the portside, it could be observed that roll and heave coupling under the influence of the riser dynamics might lead to a much lower roll response associated with waves coming from portside than from the starboard direction. Simulations were carried using an in-house time domain simulator, where the ship hydrodynamic behavior was represented through the use of impulse response functions and the lines dynamic through the use of non-linear finite element method, using an explicit integration scheme and a lumped mass approach. Non-linear viscous effects could be easily associated to the ship and line velocities. Measured motion responses of an actual FPSO in operation in Campos Basin are compared with the computations.

An Efficient 3-D FNPF Numerical Wave Tank for Virtual Large-Scale Wave Basin Experiment

This paper presents an accurate and efficient three-dimensional computational model (3D numerical wave tank), based on fully nonlinear potential flow (FNPF) theory, and its extension to incorporate the motion of a laboratory snake piston wavemaker, to simulate experiments in a large-scale 3D wave basin (i.e. to conduct “virtual” or numerical experiments). The code is based on a higher-order boundary element method combined with a Fast Multipole Algorithm (FMA). Particular efforts were devoted to making the code efficient for large-scale simulations using high-performance computing platforms to complement experimental 3D wave basins. The numerical simulation capability can serve as an optimization tool at the experimental planning and detailed design stages. To date, waves that can be generated in the NWT include solitary, Cnoidal, and Airy waves. In this paper, we detail the model, mathematical formulation, and wave generation. Experimental or analytical comparisons with NWT results are provided for several cases to assess the accuracy and applicability of the numerical model to practical engineering problems.

Towards Fully Non-Linear Floating Body Simulations by a Potential Method

A 3-dimensional Rankine source panel method for simulating a rigid floating body in steep waves is being developed. The aim is to obtain the same quality as free-surface RANSE methods, which are well suited for this application, but to require only a small fraction of the computing time needed by RANSE methods. The body may have forward speed or perform maneuvering motions. The exact boundary conditions are satisfied at the actual location of the fluid boundaries. The waves are generated not by a material wave maker, but by an approximate wave potential which needs not satisfy the exact free-surface condition. No wave damping regions are required. Whereas for steep waves without a body the method appears satisfactory, it needs further improvements if a body is present.

Permeability of Marine Sediments and Tropical Volcanic Soils

Permeability values for a range of fine-grained deep-sea sediments are presented and evaluated in terms of index properties such as plasticity, grain size and carbonate content. It is found that whereas clay-rich sediments have similar permeabilities to those of equivalent land-based fine-grained soils, the presence of volcanic, carbonate and other non-clay fractions tends to increase permeability somewhat. Volcanic silty-clayey soils from Hawaii have comparable permeability values, although they can be slightly more permeable.

Hydrodynamic Interaction Forces on Ship Hulls Equipped With Propulsors

Typically, study of hydrodynamic interaction between vessels navigating in close proximity to each other is limited to hydrodynamics of bare hulls. Meanwhile, ship propulsors, especially heavily loaded, which may happen in accelerating motion, can alter substantially the flow and distribution of pressure on the hulls which can be viewed as generalization of the thrust deduction phenomenon. The 3D doubled body potential interaction code based on the source panel method developed earlier by the authors has been enhanced to include the effect of a propeller on each of the interacting ships under the assumption that the propeller jets (slipstreams) are not involved into the interaction. Each propeller is simulated by a disk of sinks further approximated with a polygon composed of identical triangular panels with identical constant sink density linked to the thrust of the propulsor according to the actuator disk theory. Comparative computations were carried out for two identical tanker vessels in the close-proximity overtaking manoeuvre at various values of the loading coefficient of each propeller. The loading coefficient is not supposed to be necessarily defined by the steady propulsion point. Numerical results demonstrate that a heavily loaded propeller substantially modifies the pressure distribution on both hulls resulting in alteration of the hydrodynamic interaction loads, especially of the surge force and yaw moment.

Numerical Simulation of the Added Mass of the Fluid Adjacent to the Ship Hull in Vibration Measured During Sea-Trials in Tanker Ships to be Converted to Offshore Construction Vessel

This study aims to analyze the influence of the kinetic energy of the fluid adjacent to the hull of a tanker ship in its vertical vibration frequencies, comparing them with experimental measurements obtained during sea-trials. The one-dimensional modeling of ships allows the construction of simple finite element models from the structural elements of its master section, with structural and added masses, and their frequencies are verified by full-scale measurements, during the sea-trials. The numerical results of these models, with the value of the effective shear area as a fraction of the total area of the strength steel are compared to those obtained in full-scale measurements during sea trials of an oil tanker to be converted to Offshore Construction Vessel. Global vibration measurements were carried out in two of the six ships with the same hull. Accelerometers were installed in eleven strategic points of each hull. Vibration data acquisition was performed simultaneously for these locals in thirteen rotations of the main engine. The amplitude spectra of vibration velocity on the frequency range of measurements were obtained and were plotted graphs of the evolution of the main harmonics, depending on the rotation of the main engine, in order to identify four natural frequencies of the overall vibration of the hull, which were compared to the numerical model. The calculation is performed by the added mass formulations from Burrill, Todd, Kumay and Lewis/Landweber [8] curves, including in all three-dimensional effect by Townsin [17] coefficients, which is checked against the experimental results. The comparison between numerical and experimental results allows assessing the influence of the kinetic energy of the fluid surrounding the hull in the natural frequencies of vibration of the numerical model of the tanker ship and simulating their dynamic behavior after conversion in Offshore Construction Vessel.

The Bulldozer Effect When Cutting Water Saturated Sand

In the last decennia a lot of research has been carried out into the cutting of water saturated sand at small cutting angles, especially at the Delft University and Deltares. Because of tunnel boring machines there was also interest in larger cutting angles in the 90’s. Now this can also be applied to the bulldozer effect in front of drag heads or the dragging of ice keels resulting in soil displacements under gouges. At small cutting angles the sand will flow over the blade according to the flow type of cutting mechanism, however at large angles a wedge will occur in front of the blade, while at very large cutting angles the sand will be pushed under the blade. Based on FEM calculations of the pore pressures a method has been developed named the parallel resistor method, in order to determine the pore pressures in the water saturated sand. Once these pore pressures are known, the forces and moments can be determined and it can be predicted at which cutting angle a static wedge will start to occur and at which cutting angle the sand will start to move under the blade resulting in much larger soil deformations. The paper will describe the model and also give a recipe on how to determine when the static wedge will occur.