Predictions of Ship Extreme Hydroelastic Load Responses in Harsh Irregular Waves and Hull Girder Ultimate Strength Assessment

In this paper, the hydroelastic motion and load responses of a large flexible ship sailing in irregular seaways are predicted and the hull girder ultimate strength is subsequently evaluated. A three-dimensional time-domain nonlinear hydroelasticity theory is developed where the included nonlinearities are those arising from incident wave force, hydrostatic restoring force and slamming loads. The hull girder structure is simplified as a slender Timoshenko beam and fully coupled with the hydrodynamic model in a time domain. Segmented model towing-tank tests are then conducted to validate the proposed hydroelasticity theory. In addition, short-term and long-term predictions of ship responses in irregular seaways are conducted with the help of the developed hydroelastic code in order to determine the extreme design loads. Finally, a simplified strength-check equation is proposed, which will provide significant reference and convenience for ship design and evaluation. The hull girder ultimate strength is assessed by both the improved Rule approach and direct calculation.