Hydroelastic Response of Floating Fuel Storage Modules Placed Side-by-Side

Presented herein are the hydroelastic responses of two large box-like floating modules that are placed adjacent to each other. These two floating modules form the floating fuel storage facility (FFSF). Owing to the small draft when compared to the length dimensions, the zero-draft assumption is commonly adopted in the modeling of very large floating structures (VLFS) as plates for hydroelastic analysis. However, such an assumption is not applicable to the considered floating modules since the effect of draft on the hydroelastic response is significant when the modules are loaded with fuel. A numerical model taking into account the draft effect is hence developed in order to predict correctly the hydroelastic response and hydrodynamic interactions of floating storage modules placed side-by-side. The floating storage modules are modeled as plates where an improved Mindlin plate element, developed by coupling the reduced integration method and the additional non-conforming modes, is used. Such a plate element does not exhibit spurious modes and shear locking phenomena, thereby making it applicable to both thin and thick plate models. Furthermore, the Mindlin plate theory predicts better stress resultants as compared with its Kirchhoff plate counterpart. The linear wave theory is used to model the water waves. The wave-induced deflections obtained from the numerical model are validated by experimental tests.