Coupled analysis of nonlinear interaction between fluid and structure during impact

This paper presents a method for analysing the hydroelastic interaction during the impact of a structure with water. The completely coupled equation for fluid flow and structural response is solved by the boundary element method for the former and by the finite element method for the latter. During the impact, the nonlinear free surface boundary condition is satisfied, including proper treatment of the jet, and the full interaction with the linear elastic structure is taken into account. The convergence of the code is verified by different fluid domain and mesh sizes and different time steps. The accuracy of the code is confirmed by comparing the obtained results with published data. Various examples of a V-shape structure impacting vertically upon water are provided. The numerical result from this coupled analysis shows that the hydroelasticity has different effects on the dynamic response of the body with different deadrise angles, which may have some important implications for structural design. (C) 2000 Academic Press.