A Verification and Validation Study on a Loosely Two-Way Coupled Hydroelastic Model of Wedge Water Entry

The interaction between the structural response and hydrodynamic loading (hydroelasticity) must be considered for design and operation purposes of high-speed planing craft made of composites that are prone to frequent water impact (slamming). A computational approach was proposed to study the hydroelastic slamming of a flexible wedge. The computational approach is a loose two-way coupling between a Wagner-based hydrodynamic solution and a linear finite element plate model. Verification and validation (V&V) was performed on this coupled model. It was found that the model overpredicts rigid-body/spray root kinematics by <15% and hydrodynamic loading/ structural response by <26%. One of the primary constraints on the operational envelope of high-speed craft is slamming (water impact). Slamming occurs between the hull body and the water surface when a portion/whole of the craft exits the water and then reenters at high-enough velocity (Lloyd 1989; Faltinsen 2005). The frequent water impacts, which work like “water hammers,” along with their induced acceleration pose great jeopardy on hull structures as well as crew and instrument on-board (Yamamoto et al. 1985; Ensign et al. 2000; Hirdaris et al. 2014). With the growing use of lightweight materials, the interaction between the structural deformation and the hydrodynamic loading (hydroelasticity) becomes more prevalent. The current design criteria of high-speed craft are based on empirical procedures with no regard to hydroelasticity due to the lack of understanding of this complex phenomenon (DNV 2013; ABS 2016). Therefore, a better comprehension of hydroelastic slamming is the first step to designing more high-performance craft (Fu et al. 2014; Judge et al. 2020).