Experimental Study on Slamming Pressure and Hydroelastic Vibration of a Flat Plate during Water Entry

The real impact of water or waves on coastal and ocean engineering infrastructures is anticipated to be significant. It is a complicated problem to couple a deformable structure with an air-water fluid flow. The paper studies the slamming pressure and hydroelastic vibration of a flat plate by a series of drop tests. The peak pressure and related air-water status are recorded simutaneously. Part of the real physical field is revealed for future numerical model of strong interaction with fluid-solid system. It is found that a thin layer of air, which is enclosed by water raised up at both ends, is trapped into the interface of the plate and water. The peak pressure occurs at the plate center and keeps steady in repetitive tests. Hydroelastic vibration, which was stimulated by impacting load, makes the pressure to decrease periodically in a turbulent air-water field. Characteristic frequency of pressure signals agrees with the wet modes of the plate.