Multibody Systems in Nonlinear Waves

Almost all offshore structures have to be modeled as multibody systems. Only ships or single pontoons can be modeled as a single rigid body. The dynamic behavior of the multibody system is significantly influenced by fluid-structure interactions. So far, most available methods for analyzing these interactions are restricted to single bodies, small wave amplitudes and body motions, or both. In the present paper a two-dimensional boundary integral approach with fully nonlinear boundary conditions on the free surface is used to simulate the behavior of elastically coupled floating multibody systems in gravity waves. This method will be applied to analyze the dynamics of two floating bodies moored to a quay. The results of numerical simulations for selected configurations are shown.