Fluid-structure interaction of submerged shells

Abstract

A general three-dimensional hydroelasticity theory for the evaluation of responses has been adapted to formulate hydrodynamic coefficients for submerged shell-type structures. The derivation of the theory has been presented and is placed in context with other methods of analysis.

The ability of this form of analysis to offer an insight into the physical behaviour of practical systems is demonstrated. The influence of external boundaries and fluid viscosity was considered separately using a flexible cylinder as the model. When the surrounding fluid is water, viscosity was assessed to be significant for slender structural members and flexible pipes and in situations where the clearance to an outer casing was slight.

To validate the three-dimensional hydroelasticity theory, predictions of resonance frequencies and mode shapes were compared, with measured data from trials undertaken in enclosed tanks. These data exhibited differences due to the position of the test structures in relation to free and fixed boundaries. The rationale of the testing programme and practical considerations of instrumentation, capture and storage of data are described in detail.

At first sight a relatively unsophisticated analytical method appeared to offer better correlation with the measured data than the hydroelastic solution. This impression was mistaken, the agreement was merely fortuitous as only the hydroelastic approach is capable of reproducing-the trends recorded in the experiments. The significance of an accurate dynamic analysis using finite elements and the influence of physical factors such as buoyancy on the predicted results are also examined.