Hydroelasticity of a floating plate in multidirectional waves1

The membrane forces are included in the hydroelastic analysis of a floating plate undergoing large vertical deflections in regular monochromatic multidirectional waves. The first-order vertical displacements induced by the linear wave exciting forces are calculated by the mode expansion method in the frequency domain. The second-order vertical displacements induced by the membrane forces are calculated by the von Karman plate theory. The results show that the membrane contribution both in terms of the axial stresses and the effect on the bending stresses can be important.