Numerical simulation of impact loads using a particle method

Abstract The violent free-surface motions interacting with structures are investigated using the moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method, which was originally proposed by Koshizuka and Oka (1996) for incompressible flow simulation. In the present numerical method, a more efficient algorithm for Lagrangian moving particles is used for solving various highly nonlinear free-surface problems without using the Eulerian approach or the grid system. Therefore, the convection terms and time derivatives in the Navier–Stokes equation can be calculated more directly without any numerical diffusion, instabilities, or topological failure. In particular, the MPS method is applied to the simulation of liquid-entry and slamming problems, such as wet-drop (liquid–liquid collision) tests in an LNG tank and slamming loads (solid–liquid collision) on rigid plates with various incident angles. The numerical results are in good agreement with available experimental data.