Experimental and numerical investigation of the hydroelasticity of a floating structure with legs

In the processes of lowering down or raising up the legs of a floating structure, the legs are neither touch with the sea bed nor completely lift up, and the structure is situated in the condition of freely floating on the waves. The existing of the legs equipped on the structure leads to the property different hydroelastic responses from the ordinary floating structures. To investigate the variation of the length of the legs underwater affecting the hydroelastic responses, a plate-cell model is proposed, and the basin tests using the elastic model in waves are carried out. Based on the length of the legs under water, the model is set as 2 cases. The attenuation tests in calm water and test in the regular wave at zero speed in various of the wave conditions are carried out. According to the plate-cell model, a numerical model is constructed to simulate the hydroelastic responses of the 2 cases based on the theory of the three-dimensional (3-D) linear hydroelasticity. Both the experimental and numerical results demonstrate that the legs have significant influences on the hydroelastic responses of the structure.