Horizontal and Torsional Modes of an Ultra Large Container Ship (ULCS)

The hydro elastic responses of flexible structures under fluid loading is an important concern during the design of large ocean structures. The two-way coupling between the structural responses and the hydrodynamic loads is a complex problem in large flexible floating structures since the structures can vibrate in longitudinal, vertical, horizontal, or torsional modes. The antisymmetric distortion modes may be coupled depending on the location of the centroid and the shear centre. In the case of thin walled open structures, horizontal and torsional vibrations are usually coupled due to the asymmetry of cross section as well as eccentricity between centroid of the section and shear deformation centres. The acurate estimation of dry natural frequency and modes shapes of structure is indispensable since it helps to validate the accuracy of the structural modelling. A numerical method available from one of the existing literatures is used for the estimation of dry and wet natural frequencies, and mode shapes of horizontal and torsional vibrations of an ULCS. The natural frequency and modes are essential parameters for the analysis of interaction between structural responses and hydrodynamic loads. The numerical method is based on a 1D FEM beam model. Distortion due to warping is included in the numerical model since it is well known that containerships with large hatch opening are susceptible to warping. The numerical model is subdivided into 50 stations and the mass distribution and the sectional properties are calculated in order to match the bending, shear, torsion and warping moduli of the experimental model. The dry and wet natural frequency and mode shapes for the horizontal and torsional vibrations of the ULCS is numerically calculated and compared with the experimental results.