URANS Prediction of the Hydrodynamic Interactions of Two Ship-like Floating Structures in Regular Waves

A side-by-side configuration of floating structures is commonly used in ocean exploration practices, such as offshore vessels for loading and offloading, floating cranes, and offshore floating wind turbines. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is current practice for the analysis of hydrodynamic interactions of the side-by-side vessels. The purpose of this study is yo carry out a benchmark study of CFD method applied for the above analysis. URANS CFD method was applied utilizing a k-ε turbulence model and a volume of fluid (VOF) method to capture the free surface. Different ratios of wave length to vessel’s length and different gaps between between the vessels were considered in the study. Simulation results show that the wave length to vessel’s length ratio l/L affects significantly the wave pattern around the vessels and inside the gap. For the shorter waves, the gap influences the wave pattern both inside and outside the gap. Further, the pressure distribution on the keel surface of the vessels is asymmetric about the vertical center plane along the vessel, which resulted in roll motion eventhough the vessel is in head seas. Roll motion was observed in all gap variations considered. Amplitude modulation was observed in the heave and pitch motions, while generation of side-band frequency components were observed in the roll motion, which indicate a non-linear fluid-structure interaction.