Numerical Studies of Green Water Impact on Fixed and Moving Bodies

Abstract

A numerical time domain simulation model has been developed to study green water phenomena and its impact loading on structures. In this model, a volume-of-fluid (VOF) technique is used to capture the violent free-surface motion. The incompressible Euler/Navier-Stokes equations, written in an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) frame, are solved using projection schemes and a finite element method on unstructured grids. Numerical simulations of green water problems carried out in this study include: green water overtopping a fixed 2D deck; green water impact on a fixed 3D body with or without a vertical wall on the deck; and green water impact on the deck and deckhouse of a moving floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) model. Numerical results obtained using the present model are compared with experimental measurements for each case; and very good qualitative and relatively good quantitative agreements are obtained. The present numerical model can be used for simulating green water effects.