A monolithic finite element formulation for the hydroelastic analysis of very large floating structures

A monolithic finite element formulation for the hydroelastic analysis of very large floating structures

Colomes, Oriol (TU Delft Offshore Engineering)
Verdugo, Francesc (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE))
Akkerman, I. (TU Delft Ship Hydromechanics and Structures)

2022

In this work we present a novel monolithic Finite Element method for the hydroelastic analysis of very large floating structures (VLFS) with arbitrary shapes that is stable, energy conserving, and overcomes the need of an iterative algorithm. The new formulation enables a fully monolithic solution of the linear free-surface flow, described by linear potential flow, coupled with floating thin structures, described by the Euler–Bernoulli beam or Poisson–Kirchhoff plate equations. The formulation presented in this work is general in the sense that solutions can be found in the frequency and time domains, it overcomes the need of using elements with (Formula presented.) continuity by employing a continuous/discontinuous Galerkin approach, and it is suitable for finite elements of arbitrary order. We show that the proposed approach can accurately describe the hydroelastic phenomena of VLFS with a variety of tests, including structures with elastic joints, variable bathymetry, and arbitrary structural shapes.

Finite elements
fluid-structure interaction
hydroelasticity
mixed-dimensional PDEs
monolithic scheme
very large floating structures

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:027679e8-9d72-4e90-bbda-3b41f0b418fd

https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.7140

0029-5981

International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 124 (3), 714-751

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 Oriol Colomes, Francesc Verdugo, I. Akkerman