• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.413-433
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• 2017

The dynamic and structural responses of a 1000-m long circular submerged floating tunnel (SFT) with both ends fixed under survival irregular-wave excitations are investigated. The floater-mooring nonlinear and elastic coupled dynamics are modeled by a time-domain numerical simulation program, OrcaFlex. Two configurations of mooring lines i.e., vertical mooring (VM) and inclined mooring (IM), and four different buoyancy-weight ratios (BWRs) are selected to compare their global performances. The result of modal analysis is included to investigate the role of the respective natural frequencies and elastic modes. The effects of various submergence depths are also checked. The envelopes of the maximum/minimum horizontal and vertical responses, accelerations, mooring tensions, and shear forces/bending moments of the entire SFT along the longitudinal direction are obtained. In addition, at the mid-section, the time series and the corresponding spectra of those parameters are also presented and analyzed. The pros and cons of the two mooring shapes and high or low BWR values are systematically analyzed and discussed. It is demonstrated that the time-domain numerical simulation of the real system including nonlinear hydro-elastic dynamics coupled with nonlinear mooring dynamics is a good method to determine various design parameters.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.266-281
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• 2017

Hydroelastic interactions of a deformable floating body with random waves are investigated in time domain. Both hydroelastic motion and structural dynamics are solved by expansion of elastic modes and Fourier transform for the random waves. A direct and efficient structural analysis in time domain is developed. In particular, an efficient way of obtaining distributive loads for the hydrodynamic integral terms including convolution integral by using Fubini theory is explained. After confirming correctness of respective loading components, calculations of full distributions of loads in random waves are expedited by reformulating all the body loading terms into distributed forms. The method is validated by extensive convergence tests and comparisons against the counterparts of the frequency-domain analysis. Characteristics of motion/deformation responses and stress resultants are investigated through a parametric study with varying bending rigidity and types of random waves. Relative contributions of componential loads are identified. The consequence of elastic-mode resonance is underscored.