In-plane hydroelastic response of a circular ring in water waves

Deep water storm-resistant fish cages are playing an increasingly important role in open-sea fishery aquaculture. The most widely applied among them are the gravity-type fish cages. The main load-bearing component of a gravity-type fish cage is its flotation ring that oscillates under the action of water waves. Most studies examine the rigid-body motions of the flotation ring in waves, but its elastic deformations in waves are not negligible. To investigate the influence of the elastic deformations, we have herein proposed a fluid–structure interaction model accounting for the rigid-body motions and in-plane elastic deformations of a simplified flotation ring. Correlation with experimental data has been studied. Numerical examples are given to show the hydroelastic influences. Useful conclusions are recommended at the end of the paper.