A finite element method for fluid-structure interaction with surface waves using a finite calculus formulation

A stabilized semi-implicit fractional step finite element method (FEM) for solving coupled fluid-structure interaction problems involving free surface waves is presented. The stabilized governing equations for the viscous incompressible fluid and the free surface are derived at a differential level via a finite calculus (FIC) procedure. A mesh updating technique based on solving a fictitious elastic problem on the moving mesh is described. Examples of the efficiency of the stabilized semi-implicit algorithm for the analysis of fluid-structure interaction problems in totally or partially submerged bodies is presented. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.