Experimental and FNPT-RANS Investigations Into Gap-Excitation and Vortex Dynamics in a Rectangular Moonpool Interacting With Focused Waves

Moonpools are designed to provide a calm environment for lowering of equipment from ships. Considerable research effort has been invested towards understanding water column excitation within a moonpool. However, most recent investigations consider regular waves. The nature of interaction between focused waves and a moonpool is not well-understood; the present work strives to fill this research gap. A series of experiments have been carried out in a 22 m long glass flume in the Department of Ocean Engineering at IIT Madras. Two identical cuboidal boxes were affixed with a 0.15 m gap representing a rectangular moonpool. Focused waves based on a constant steepness spectrum were generated in 0.6 m water depth by a piston-type wave-paddle. The focusing point was set at the center of the moonpool and wave-focusing experiments were performed with and without the twin-body. Wave elevation at various locations along the flume was measured using five wave-gauges. Next, the experiments were numerically replicated using the in-house codes IITM-FNPT2D (for inviscid wave generation) and IITM-RANS3D (for fully viscous wave-structure interaction). Gap-excitation at the instant of focusing has been quantified and correlated with focused wave characteristics and with dynamics of spanwise vortices generated at the edges of the moonpool.