Drift Motion of Floating Bodies Under the Action of Green Water

Abstract

Numerical simulations are peformed to model the dynamic motions of a free floating body exposed to water waves. The solid body has low freeboard and draft, and its upper deck can be washed by the steep waves. Thus, the green water phenomenon occurs as large waves interact with the floating body. The aim of the research is to improve the understanding of the green water emerging above the upper deck of a floating plate. A thin floating body with barriers is also modeled. For the case of the body equipped with barriers, no green water occurs. Green water has been seen to affect the wave field and the dynamic motions of the plate. It is observed that when water can wash the upper surface of the floating object, drift speed is slightly decreased as a proportion of the energy of waves is dissipated above the body. Water waves are seen to impact the upper surface of the thin floating body as the green water flows over its upper deck. Furthermore, water is seen to impact the plate as its front edge re-enters the water. The first water impact only occurs when the floating body is not equipped with any barrier. By sampling the numerical simulations, it is observed that the non-dimensional value of the impact pressure, resulting from the green water, is larger for the case of smaller wavelength.