Hydroelasticity of a 21000TEU containership under freak waves by fluid-flexible structure interaction simulations

In this paper the CFD-FEM two-way coupled method is used to simulate the motions and wave loads on a 21000TEU containership subjected to freak waves. A numerical wave tank is established for the generation of long-crested freak waves by wave focusing method based on superimposing sinusoidal component waves. The ship hull is modeled with a backbone beam which reproduces the vertical bending vibration modal behaviour of real ship. The simulated freak waves are checked and the evolution of freak waves during propagation is analyzed first. The ship responses in regular waves at different wave heights and ship speeds are compared. The extreme responses of ship motion and sectional loads in freak waves are analyzed and compared with those in regular waves. The influence of ship forward speed and wave height of freak waves on ship motion and load responses are analyzed and discussed.