On the Nonlinear Vibrational Responses of a Large Vessel with a Broad Bow Flare under Wave Excitation: Theory and Experiment

A fully coupled nonlinear three-dimensional (3D) hydroelastic method is developed to investigate vibrational responses of a large ship with a pronounced bow flare subjected to high seas. This numerical model consists of a 3D boundary element method, 1D Euler-Bernoulli beam model, and a 2D generalized Wagner model. Green water loads were considered. Experimental study was carried out in a towing tank on a self-propelled segmented model with nonuniform steel backbones. The ship model was tested in regular incident waves of large amplitude. Impact pressure and nonlinear vertical bending moments were measured and compared with numerical predictions. The proposed nonlinear model produced similar results to the experimental model. Furthermore, the effects of elastic modes and nonlinearities on the numerical results were analyzed.