Hydroelasticity of large container ships

The importance of hydroelastic analysis of large and flexible container ships of today is pointed out for structure design. A methodology for investigation of this challenging phenomenon is drawn up and a mathematical model is worked out. It includes the definition of ship geometry, mass parameters, structure stiffness, and combines ship hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, wave load, ship motion and vibrations. The modal superposition method is employed. Based on the presented theory, a computer program is developed and applied for hydroelastic analysis of a large container ship. The transfer functions for heave, pitch, roll, vertical and horizontal bending and torsion are presented. Rigid body and elastic responses are correlated.