Hydroelastic response of very large floating structure with a flexible line connection

This paper is concerned with the hydroelastic response of pontoon-type, very large floating structures (VLFS) with a flexible line connection. For the hydroelastic analysis, the water is modeled as an ideal fluid and its motion is assumed to be irrotational so that a velocity potential exists. The VLFS is modeled by a plate according to the Mindlin plate theory. In order to decouple the fluid-structure interaction problem, the modal expansion method is adopted for the hydroelastic analysis that is carried out in the frequency domain. The boundary element method is used to solve the Laplace equation together with the fluid boundary conditions for the velocity potential, whereas the finite element method is adopted for solving the deflection of the floating plate. This study examines the effects of the location and the rotational stiffness of such a flexible line connection on the hydroelastic response. Hinge and semi-rigid line connections are found to be effective in reducing hydroelastic response of the VLFS as well as the stress resultants, depending on the wavelength. The effects of wave angle, water depth and plate's aspect ratio on the hydroelastic response of the VLFS are also investigated. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.