Numerical Investigation on Hydroelastic Response of a Model Ship in Regular Head Waves

With the increasing size of ships, their flexibility plays a more and more important role in ship motion predictions. However, existing numerical prediction of ship motion in regular waves usually does not consider the elastic response of the ship, which often regards the ship as a rigid body. Therefore, hydroelastic effects on ship motion need to be taken into account in the research. With the continuous progress of advanced research, many studies on ship hydroelastic response have emerged, but most of them still stay in the hydroelasticity theories based on potential flow theory or the one-way coupling numerical simulation based on RANS/CFD and FEM. To strengthen the interaction between fluid and structure, this paper uses the two-way coupling between fluid solver Star-CCM+ and finite element software Abaqus to calculate the vertical motion RAOs of a model ship at different measuring points in regular head waves. The two-way coupling method exchanges real-time data of pressure and nodal displacements between the fluid domain in Star-CCM+ and the three-dimensional structural model in Abaqus, and uses the mesh morphing method to simulate the motion of the ship. The computational results are compared with the solution of the rigid body calculated by Star-CCM+, the results predicted by fluid solver ANSYS-AQWA based on three-dimensional potential flow theory and model test results, which verifies the feasibility of the two-way coupling method.