Numerical study of trimaran wave load based on time-domain Rankine method

Abstract

Due to the complex fluid interference between outrigger and main hull, it is difficult to predict the trimaran load fluctuation accurately in different marine environments. Therefore, a time-domain Rankine method is developed to improve the accuracy of trimaran load prediction. This method successfully adds the nonlinear load components in time-domain load simulation by taking into account the factors such as instantaneous hull wetted surface, steady ship waves, green wave and slamming. Additionally, the nonlinear growth of green wave and slamming is also observed at outrigger and wet deck, with the increasing of speeds and wave heights. Finally, the relatively smaller errors in the Rankine method are confirmed by comparison with the values from a trimaran model test and linear time-domain load prediction method. Furthermore, the weakly nonlinear Rankine method is considered to be more suitable for trimaran load prediction under harsh marine environment.