FEM Hydroelastic Models with Application to the Nonlinear Response of Large Floating Bodies in Shallow Wave Conditions

A higher order finite element scheme is presented for the study of the transient hydroelastic response of a floating, thin, nonlinear strip in shallow wave conditions. First, nonlinear effects are introduced only in the elasticity model, where large deflections and non-negligible normal stress variation in the lateral direction are assumed. The nonlinear beam is initially coupled with the linearized and subsequently with the full nonlinear Shallow Water equations, introducing nonlinearity in both the hydrodynamics and the elasticity model. The effects of the incorporated nonlinear effects are assessed through a numerical example featuring an elevation pulse of increasing steepness.