Hydroelastic coupling of beam finite element model with Wagner theory of water impact

The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of the direct coupling of the finite element method for the structural part with a Wagner representation of the hydrodynamic loads during the impact of an elastic body onto the water surface. An efficient and very general method is developed and validated in two dimensions. Advantages of the present method are outlined for the elastic wedge impact problem; however, the method is applicable to any elastic body with small deadrise angle entering water vertically at moderate velocity. Strategy for coupling of this method with commercial finite element codes is discussed.