Efficient hydrodynamic analysis of very large floating structures

Abstract The hydrodynamic analysis of very large floating structures can be performed, at least in principle, using a general-purpose radiation–diffraction code. This has the advantages that arbitrary geometries can be considered, and that all of the relevant hydrodynamic parameters can be evaluated within the context of linear (and second-order) potential theory. The same procedure can be used to analyze special effects including hydroelastic deformations, multiple bodies, air cushions, etc. Several examples are described in this paper, to indicate the present capabilities and limits of this approach. First-order RAOs and second-order mean drift forces are considered. Simple Euler beam modes are used to illustrate the analysis of hydroelasticity. The standard version of WAMIT is used, except for the largest array of circular cylinders where the accelerated pFFT method is required. All of the computations are performed on contemporary PCs of moderate speed and capacity. Problems of greater complexity could be analyzed using high-performance computers.