This paper was published in Journal of Marine Science and Application. DOI: 10.1007/s11804-026-00870-1
Abstract#
This paper investigates the hydroelastic interaction between a thin elastic plate floating in deep water and nonlinear regular waves. A two-way fluid-structure interaction (FSI) framework coupling computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) is used to reproduce the response of nonlinear hydroelastic waves. To account for the high structural flexibility while improving computational efficiency, a Laplacian matrix representation was newly incorporated into the framework. The numerical results were validated through comparison with experimental data and analytical solutions. The simulations revealed nonlinear waveforms in different incident-wave frequency ranges, including waves with sharpened crests and flattened troughs, as well as their reversed counterparts. In the region where waveform reversal occurred, a transition of waveform shape was observed during propagation, with the response changing from an elevated shape on the upstream side to a depressed shape near the center of the plate.
Main Contributions#
- Investigation of deep-water wave propagation: The study examines deep-water waves propagating along a long and thin plate floating on the water surface.
- Strong two-way coupled framework: A strongly coupled CFD-FEA framework, specially treated for highly flexible FSI problems, was employed to simultaneously account for various nonlinear hydrodynamic effects and capture features such as free-surface nonlinearity.
- Model validation and future prospects: The adopted CFD-FEA coupled model was validated against experimental results for highly flexible FSI problems and established as a reliable tool for future studies, such as simulations of wave interactions with long elastic floating plates in shallow water.
Access#
Paper link:
Read the full paper on Springer