The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

Vol. 4, No. 3, August 2011, 124142

Oshore hydrodynamics and applications

Xiaobo Chen*
Bureau Veritas, 67/71 Bd du Chateau, 92571 Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France

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(Received 21 January 2011; nal version received 24 April 2011)

A short survey of recent research and developments in the hydrodynamic domain and their applications in oshore
engineering is presented. The survey is limited to the rst-order and second-order potential theory of wave radiation
and diraction around a xed or oating body of arbitrary geometry, which is applied to evaluate wave loads and
induced motions. It includes the basic equations with the notion of fairly perfect uid, the elimination of irregular
frequencies and the new formulations of second-order wave loads, and more special features as interaction of
multiple bodies, low-frequency loads on a moored system, high-frequency springing loads and dynamic eect of
liquid motion in tanks. Emphasis is also placed on the benchmark validation including comparisons with analytical
or semi-analytical results and experimental measurements, and applications for LNG carriers, FPSOs, barges, semisubmersibles and Tension Leg Platforms (TLPs).
Keywords: wave diraction and radiation; linear wave load; high-frequency wave load; low-frequency wave load;
wave induced response; multibody interaction; dynamic eect of liquid motion in tanks

1.

Introduction

Hydrodynamic analysis of wave action on oshore

structures and ships are critically important in both
design and operational studies. In the classication
activities of Bureau Veritas, it is also essential to be
able to perform hydrodynamic calculations, as part of
an independent verication of engineering designs.
This article summarises our important part of the work
in hydrodynamic research, development and applications during the last 20 years at Bureau Veritas, as well
as the most recent progress in the formulation and
computation of the second-order wave loads, and the
introduction of dissipation eect in potential ows.
We start with the presentation of basic equations
describing the potential ow of wave diraction and
radiation. In the momentum equation, a ctitious force
depending on the uid velocity is introduced in the
same way as Guevel (1982) to represent the energy
dissipation of various sources without modifying the
inviscid and irrotational properties. As a result, a
damping term with the same parameter is present in
the classical boundary condition over the free surface.
By applying the perturbation procedure, the boundary
value problems of the rst order and second order are
then developed.
The integral equation of the rst-order problem is
derived by making use of the Green theorem in Section
3. The particular issue of irregular frequencies is
treated with the mathematical explanation to the

*Email: xiao-bo.chen@bureauveritas.com
ISSN 1937-3260 print/ISSN 1937-3279 online
2011 The Institution of Engineers, Singapore
DOI: 10.1080/19373260.2011.595903
http://www.informaworld.com

appearance of irregularities at a discrete set of

frequencies embedded in the original Fredholm integral equation. The location of irregular frequencies
and their removal are then discussed. The method to
extend the original integral equation to involving an
integral over the interior waterplane is described.
Various results of numerical computation show the
eciency of the method.
The formulations and computations of secondorder wave loads are elaborated in Section 4. The
second-order high-frequency loads are important to
evaluate the springing eect on tensioned legs of TLPs
due to the resonant vertical motions. The second-order
low-frequency loads yield large excursions of moored
systems so that an important attention has been paid
to their evaluation for the paste decades. The general
formulation of second-order wave loads can be
obtained by direct integration of the second-order
pressure on the hull surface of bodys mean position
and the variation of the rst-order loads due to the
rst-order motions. In general, the high-frequency
wave load is not much aected by the rst-order
motion as we are interested in the range of small wave
periods, while the low-frequency load must be computed by fully taking into account of the rst-order
motion. Both high-frequency and low-frequency
wave loads are treated with some typical results
from numerical computations and experimental
measurements.

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The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

Much more work has been devoted to the lowfrequency wave load than that to the high-frequency
wave load. Amongst the publication on the lowfrequency load, more attention is paid on the constant
drift load. In particular, two classes of formulations
have been developed. One is called the near-eld
formulation derived from the pressure integration on
bodys hull, as in Molin (1979) or Pinkster (1980).
Another called the far-eld formulation by Maruo
(1960) and Newman (1967) is obtained by applying the
momentum theorem to the uid domain.
Based on the use of two extended Stokess
theorems, it is shown mathematically in Chen (2006)
that both formulations are equivalent. A new near-eld
formulation is obtained by direct application of the
extended Stokess theorems. It is essentially similar to
the classical one with some improvements as terms
associated directly with bodys translations and rotations disappear. It can be used as an alternative to
evaluate the high-frequency as well as the lowfrequency loads. Applying the Greens theorem to
the domain limited by a control surface, a second new
formulation is obtained and involves the integrals on
the control surface and along its intersection with the
mean free surface. Unlike the formulation given in
Ferreira and Lee (1994) or that by Molin and Hairault
(1983) obtained by applying the momentum theorem
and applicable only to the drift loads, this new
formulation is absolutely general as it can apply to
the high-frequency loads as well as the low-frequency
loads, to horizontal load components as well as vertical
load components.
An interesting feature of the formulation concerns
the low-frequency wave load for which the formulation
is largely simplied. In particular, the horizontal
components of drift loads involve only a surface
integral on the control surface and a line integral
along its intersection with the free surface. This
formulation written on the control surface at some
distance from the body is called as the middle-eld
formulation. It is shown that it has the same virtue as
the far-eld formulation to have rapid numerical
convergence for horizontal drift loads. Furthermore,
in the case of multiple bodies, the control surface can
be one surrounding an individual body and the wave
loads applied on the surrounded body are then
obtained, while the far-eld formulation provides
only the sum of wave loads applied on all bodies.
An important application of the developed method
is the multibody interaction which is presented in
Section 5. The side-by-side situation amplies the
interaction and can yield large kinematics of wave eld
in the conned zone. Within the framework of the
classical linear potential theory, there is not any limit
in predicting wave elevations at the free surface while

125

the resonant motion in the reality must be largely

damped by dierent mechanisms of dissipation. Unlike
the method developed by Buchner et al. (2001) or that
by Newman (2004), we apply directly the authentic
equations, presented in Section 2, of the fairly perfect
uid involving already the energy dissipation via
introducing the damping force. The integral equation
extended to a limited zone of the free surface is then
developed. Numerical examples show that the method
is ecient and provides results closer to the experimental measurements.
In Section 6, the eect of liquid motion in partiallylled tanks of a LNG carrier is taken into account in
the seakeeping analysis. Classically, only the hydrostatic eect is taken into account by subtracting the
corresponding stiness from the global hydrostatic
matrix. This is only valid for very low wave
frequencies. The dynamic eect is important especially
at a wave frequency close to one resonance frequency
of tanks. Under the assumption of linear potential
ow, the uid motion in tanks can be evaluated by
solving the boundary value problem involving the
same Green function which satises the free surface
condition. To approximate the damping eect to liquid
motion in tanks, the condition on tanks wall is
modied by introducing a small positive parameter
equivalent to a partial reection of walls. This implies
that the main part of dissipation occurs in the
boundary layer. Numerical results show that the
approximation is good enough to capture the major
coupling eect of liquid motion with the global motion
of vessels.
The article is terminated by giving some discussions
and conclusions. All developments have been conducted to the realisation of our in-house software
HydroStar, the hydrodynamic part of the software
package VeriSTAR-Oshore of Bureau Veritas.
This article is intended to give a limited survey on
the recent research and development in the domain of
oshore hydrodynamics realised in the Research
Department of Bureau Veritas. Most part of the
work is authors direct contribution. The references
given in the end of the article cannot be exhaustive due
to a phenomenal quantity of publications on the
subject.
2.

Potential ow of fairly perfect uid

We consider oating bodies without or with forward

speed on the free surface and in the presence of
incident propagative waves. The reference system of
Cartesian coordinates is dened by letting (x,y) plane
coincide with the mean free surface and z-axis be
positive upwards. The uid is assumed to be
incompressible and inviscid while the uid motion

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126

X. Chen

irrotational. Under these assumptions of a perfect

uid, the ow velocity V (V1,V2,V3) can be
expressed as V rF the gradient of a scalar
potential F(P,t) in the space P (x,y,z) at the time
t which satises the Laplace equation according to
the mass conservation. The uid is under the action
of gravity. Besides this gravitational eld, an internal
force

mean free surface (z 0), we obtain the boundary

value problems of dierent orders.
At the rst order, the linear problem of wave
radiation and diraction is dened by:

f mV

F1
n Xt n;

r2 F1 0
1

gF1
z Ftt mFt 0

6b

PH

6c

F1
z 0 P  Bz h

6d

in which D stands for the uid domain limited by the

mean free-surface F, the body surface H, the sea bed B
and a cylindrical surface C(x2y2 ! ?) at the innity.
The so-called radiation condition requiring that F
disappears on C is satised automatically in the fairly
1
perfect uid. Xt on the right hand side of (6c) is the
vector of body velocity on H which is explicited
afterward.
The second-order problem of wave radiation and
diraction is dened by:
r2 F2 0

Pr =r gz Ft rFrF=2 mF Ct

6a

P  Fz 0
1

is assumed to apply to the uid particle as well. The

parameter m being assumed to be positive and small,
this force is proportional to the magnitude of uid
velocity but in the opposite direction. Although
playing the same role of damping uid motion and
dissipating energy as that of uid viscosity, it does
not introduce any vorticity so that the existence of
velocity potential is safeguarded. The inviscid and
irrotational uid with the ctitious force is called by
Guevel (1982) as fairly perfect uid. The momentum
equation in the fairly perfect uid is slightly
modied and the associated Bernoulli equation is
expressed as:

PD

PD

7a

2
2

with C(t) an arbitrary function of t usually

omitted by redening F without aecting the velocity
eld.
On the free surface, the dynamic condition requires
that the pressure given from (2) is equal to the
atmospheric pressure. Furthermore, a particle in
motion at the free surface stays always on the same
surface. Combining both the dynamic and kinematic
conditions yields a compound form:
gFz Ftt mFt 2rFrFt rF  rrFrF=2 0
3

gF2
z Ftt mFt NF

P  Fz 0
2

F2
n Xt n NH
F2
z 0

PH

P  Bz h

7b

7c
7d

in which NF stands for the non-homogeneous term

on the right hand side of the second-order free
2
surface condition and NH the supplementary term
on the right hand side of body surface condition.
2
2
NF and NH are quadratic functions of the rstorder quantities given by:

on the exact free surface given by:

2

EP; t Ft rFrF=2 mF=g

The last assumption concerns a small steepness of

incident waves. A perturbation solution in terms of this
small parameter is permitted such that the velocity
potential is expanded as:
FP; t F1 P; t F2 P; t   

as well as other physical values, i.e. dynamic pressures,

free surface elevations, wave loads and bodys motions.
Introducing the expansion (5) into the Laplace
equation and (3) and developing F(z E) above the

NF 2rFt rF1  e1 gF1

zz Fztt mFzt ;
2

NH Xt  rF1 R1 ^ n  X1 rrF1 n

8
with R(1) (a4,a5,a6) the vector of body rotations (roll
a4, pitch a5 and yaw a6) around the reference point
O(x0,y0,z0) and n the normal vector.
Furthermore, the free surface elevation is given by
1

E 1 Ft mF1 =g;

2

E 2 Ft mF2
1

rF1 rF1 =2g  E 1 Fzt mF1

z 

9a

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The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

evaluated at z 0, and the pressure on the body
surface
1

1
P1
r =r gX3  Ft  mF ;
2
P2
 rF1 rF1 =2
r =r gX3  Ft  mF

9b

(C). The integral on the surface at innity is nil in

the uid with dissipation. The integral over the sea
bed is nil as well.
The Equation (11) is then reduced to:
ZZ
dsFn G  FGn IF F for P  D
4pFP
H

12a

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with (X3 ; X3 ) the vertical displacement of the rstorder and second-order, respectively.
In the following, the rst-order quantities such as
(E (1), F(1)) are written as (E, F) wheresoever without
confusion for the sake of simplicity, while the secondorder potential F(2) keeps its form to distinguish
from F.

in which the integral over the free surface IF(F) is

evaluated by making use of (6b) and (10b):
ZZ
dsFn G  FGn
IF F
F
ZZ
dsGFtt  FGtt mGFt  m0 FGt
1=g
F

12b
3. Integral equations and removal of irregular
frequencies
To solve the rst-order boundary value problem
dened by (6), we consider one fundamental solution
which satises the following equations:
r2 GP; Q; t 4p dP  Q

PD

10a

gGz Gtt m0 Gt 0

P  Fz 0

10b

Gz 0

P  Bz h

10c

in which (P,Q) are respectively the eld point P(x,y,z)

and singular point Q(x0 ,y0 ,z0 ), and the Dirac function
d(P7Q) d (x7x0 ) d (y7y0 ) d(z7z0 ). In principle,
the parameter m0 involving in the free-surface boundary
condition (10b) takes the same value as m in (6b). Such
a solution is called the Green function representing the
eld of velocity potential at P(x,y,z) created by a
source of unit density located at Q(x0 ,y0 ,z0 ).
Applying Greens second formula to the couple of
harmonic functions (F, G), we have:

ZZ
@FQ
GP; Q
4pFP
SQ @nQ

@GP; Q
 FQ
dsQ 11
@nQ
in which the normal vector n is oriented positively
towards uid. The left hand side is the result of the
domain integral while the terms on the right side
come from the transformation of the domain integral
to the surface integral on the boundaries according
to the formula of Ostrogradsky. The boundary
surfaces S(Q) include ships hull (H), the mean free
surface (F), the sea bed (B) and a surface at innity

This free surface integral IF(F) is simplied or

equal to zero in most cases of wave radiation and
diraction without forward speed, or can be
transformed into a line integral for the wave
radiation and diraction around an advancing ship
at a uniform speed.
The integral Equation (12a) can be applied directly
on the body boundary H and over the free surface F.
The value of Fn being known, solutions of (12a) give
the distribution of F on H and F. One alternative to
(12a) can be obtained by considering a complementary
domain D0 inside the body limited by the body
boundary H and the interior waterplane F0 and
applying Greens second formula:
ZZ


0
4pFP
ds Fn  Fn G  F  F0 Gn
H

IF F IF 0 F0

for P  D [ D0

12c

in which F0 is the velocity potential in the domain D0 . If

the same boundary condition as (6b) is applied to the
interior waterplane F0 , the expression for IF0 (F0 ) is the
same as (12b) in which F is replaced by F0 . The freesurface integrals IF(F) and IF0 (F0 ) disappear in most
cases as we will see in the later part of the article. This
integral Equation (12c) is useful in obtaining the
gradient of velocity potential around the body hull,
besides the velocity potential which can be obtained as
well by the integral Equation (12a).
3.1. Wave radiation and diraction around oshore
structures
We consider a oating body without forward speed on
the surface of a fairly perfect uid in the presence of an
incident propagative wave. The uid motion is
assumed to be harmonic in time with the circular

128

X. Chen

frequency o in such a way that we can write the

velocity potential and the Green function as:
FP; t <e ffPeiwt g
GP; Q; t <e fGP; Qe

iwt

and

13

in which Re{} stands for taking the real part.

The time-harmonic potential is further expressed as
the sum of various components:
f io

6
X

aj fj a0 f0 f7

14a

j1

evaluated. The integration of the rst term (rgX3) in

(9b) plus the variation of gravity load give the
hydrostatic stiness Cij.
The second term in (9b) yields two parts: the
added-mass coecients (Akj) and damping coecients
(Bkj), and wave exciting loads Fk which are dened by
integration of the pressure due to radiation waves and
the pressure due to incoming and diracted waves,
respectively
ZZ
2
o Akj ioBkj ioio  mr
ds fj nk and
Z ZH
Fk io  mra0
dsf0 f7 nk

f0 

g cosh k0 z h ikox cos by sin b

e
o
cosh k0 h

15

17a
Finally, the motion amplitude of oating bodies is
evaluated by solving the motion equation:
6 h
i
X
0
o2 Mkj Akj  ioBkj Ckj Ckj aj Fk
j1

17b
while f7 is the potential due to the diracted waves
associated with the amplitude a0 of incoming waves.
In (15), b is the wave heading and the wavenumber
k0
determined
by
the
dispersion
relation
k0 tanh k0 h k0 o2 =g. Furthermore, we suppose
F0 satises the same boundary condition on F0 , and
the parameters m and m0 in (6b) and (10b) are assumed
to be equal so that the integrals IF(F) and IF0 (F0 )
disappear. Introducing (13) to (12c), we may choose
f0 f on H and write s fn7fn0 as the density of
source without changing the result for any point P D,
so that:
\

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in which f1,2, . . . ,6 are radiation potentials corresponding to six degree of freedom oscillations of the body
and a1,2, . . . ,6 are amplitude of corresponding motions.
f0 is the potential of incoming waves and given by

ZZ
f

dsio
Z

fj

dssj G

6
X

aj sj a0 s7 G a0 f0

i:e:

j1

16a

The source distributions sj in (16) for j 1, 2, . . . ,

7 is determined by satisfying the boundary condition
on the bodys hull H:

ZZ
j 1; 2; . . . ; 6
nj
2psj
dssj Gn
@f
=@n
j7
0
H
16b
In (16b), the generalised vector (n1,n2, . . . ,n6) is
dened as (n1,n2,n3) n and (n4,n5,n6) r ^ n in
which r (x7x0,y7y0,z7z0) with O(x0,y0,z0) as the
reference point of rotation.
Once the integral Equation (16b) is solved, the rstorder time-harmonic pressure given by (9b) can be

in which Mkj and Ckj for k,j 1, 2, . . . ,6 are the

inertia and additional stiness matrices, respectively.
3.2. Elimination of irregular frequencies
It is well known that a Fredholm integral equation of
the second kind as (16b) has a unique solution except
at the discrete set of frequencies at which the
determinant vanishes.
One mathematical demonstration can be found in
Ursell (1981). At a frequency in the vicinity of these
irregular frequencies, the solution of boundary integral
equation is wrong as it doesnt represent any physical
signicance. A plausible explication given in Mei
(1989) may start with (12c) considering the boundary
value problem in the domain D0 inside the body. As we
have chosen f0 f to obtain (16), a Dirichlet
condition on the interior side of H and the same
condition on the interior free surface F0 as that on F,
this interior problem has eigensolutions dened by the
homogeneous problem:
r2 cm 0 P  D0 ; @cm =@z  nm cm 0 P  F0 and
0

cm 0 P  H

18

in which nm o2m =g with om the m th eigenfrequency.

If o om, the inhomogeneous problem for f0 does
not have a unique solution so that the source
distribution s @(f7 f0 )/@n is not unique neither.
Since the unphysical appearing of irregular frequencies is associated with the eigensolution of the

129

Dirichlet problem (18) in the interior domain D0 , their

locations are determined by the eigenfrequencies. In
general, less the interior free surface F0 is, higher the
eigenfrequency. If F0 ! 0, a body submerged, all
irregular frequencies tend to innity. For oating
bodies of simple geometry, the location of irregular
frequencies can be easily determined but not for a
realistic ship in an easy way. However, we may
consider a box of the same length/width/draft (L/B/
T) as the ship. As the interior free surface of the box is
larger than the ships waterplane, the rst irregular
frequency is higher than that of the box. Furthermore,
as the ratio of width/length is small, the rst
eigen-wavenumber
pkirr  p/B so that oirr 
gp=B= tanhpT=B as the estimation of the lowest
irregular frequency for a ship. In the case of one
body with multiple hulls or multiple bodies, we can get
the rst irregular frequency for each individual hull/
body and retain the lowest one which is the most
boring.
Nowadays there are several methods developed to
remove the eect of irregular frequencies for a body of
arbitrary geometry.
One method consists of applying two additional
conditions at one point inside the body, actually on F0
to ensure the resultant matrix be good conditioned.
The resultant linear system becomes overdetermined
and is solved by special methods. The second method
called modied integral equation method by Lee and
Sclavounos (1989) is based on combining the original
integral equation for the potential and an additional
integral equation for the normal velocity by a complex
parameter with no-zero imaginary part. The new
integral equation mathematically free of irregular
frequency, however, presents two disadvantages in
the numerical respect. The necessity to evaluate the
second-order derivatives of the Green function needs a
special treatment, and the choice of the combining
parameter on which greatly depends the eciency of
the method is not a simple aair. The third one called
the extended integral equation method prots the fact
that we can modify the boundary value problem in the
interior domain D0 in such a way that the solution in D0
is unique so that the solution in D is free of the eect
since all irregular frequencies disappear. A detail
analysis of dierent variations of the third method is
presented in Malenica and Chen (1998). A update of
the method is summarised here.
To get a unique solution in D0 , one simple way is to
impose the boundary condition @f0 /@n 0 on the
interior free surface F0 . In this case, the interior
potential f0 satises a Neumann-type condition on F0
and a Dirichlet-type condition on H. This boundaryvalue problem has a unique solution according to
Kellogg (1929). Similar to (12b), the integral over F0 :

IF0 f

ZZ

ZZ

dsfn G  f Gn k
dsf0 G
F0
ZZ
dsmf0 G  m0 f0 G
 io=g
0

F0

F0

where we have used Gn 7Gz 7k0 G. The second

integral on the right side is zero if m m 0  1 so that
the Equation (12c) becomes:
ZZ
0
dsfn  fn G
4pfP
ZHZ
dsk0 f0 G for P  D [ D0 19a

F0

Now if we use the symbol s(Q) stands for the

source distribution:
0

4psQ fn Q  fn Q for Q  H
4psQ k0 f0 Q for Q  F0
(19a) can then be written as:
ZZ
fP
ds sQGP; Q

for

and

P  D [ D0

H[F0

19b
The boundary condition fn vn on H gives the
integral equation:
ZZ
2psP
ds sQGn P; Q vn for P  H
H[F0

20a
with vn nj for j 1, 2, . . . , 6 radiation problems and
vn 7@f0/@n diraction problem. For a point P F0 ,
by multiplying the both sides of (19b) by 7k0 and
using the identity 7k0 G Gn, the Equation (19b)
becomes:
ZZ
ds sQGn P; Q 0 for P  F0
4psP 
\

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The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

H[F0

20b
The integrals in (20) over the union of body hull H
and interior free surface F0 are of Cauchy principalvalue integral. This extended boundary-integral method is simple to implement and shown to be ecient.
The added-mass coecients (A11,A33)/(rR32p/3) and
the radiation damping coecients (B11,B33)/(rR3
o2p/3) are presented on Figure 1 with values of k0R
on the abscissa. The results from the original integral
equation are well marked by the sharp variation near
the locations of irregular frequencies. The extended

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X. Chen

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integral equation method gives the smooth results

across the location of irregular frequencies. Comparing
with the analytical results from Hulme (1982) conrms
the accuracy of numerical results. The surge and heave
responses of the hemisphere are presented on the left of
Figure 2 as well as the results by Kudou (1977). On the
right of Figure 2, the second-order drift loads in surge
(FDx) and in heave (FDz) are presented in comparison
with those by Kudou (1977) and by Pinkster (1980).
Again, we observe the smooth variation of results by
the extended integral equation method across the
location of irregular frequencies and excellent level of
precision of the numerical computation.
4.

Second-order wave loads

The second-order wave loads are composed of sumfrequency loads and dierence-frequency loads. The
sum-frequency load often called high-frequency load is
an oscillatory load at the frequency equal to the sum of
rst-order wave frequencies while the dierencefrequency load often called low-frequency load

Figure 1.

oscillates at the frequency equal to the dierence of

rst-order wave frequencies. Same as the doublefrequency load is part of sum-frequency loads, the
low-frequency load includes the constant part which is
often called as drift loads. The second-order wave
loads can thus be the main source of excitation on a
system whose natural frequencies are located outside
of the frequency range of wave energy. This is the case
for most moored systems (FPSOs, semi-submersibles,
spars and TLPs) whose natural periods in surge, sway
and yaw motions are around 100 s. On the other side,
the natural periods of TLPs in heave, roll and pitch
motions vary from 1 to 5 s so that the fatigue of
tensioned legs is very sensitive to high-frequency wave
loads.
Numerous studies have been devoted to the
analysis of second-order wave loads. A non-exhaustive
list includes the classical work by Maruo (1960),
Newman (1967, 1974), Molin (1979) and Pinkster
(1980). The general formulation of second-order wave
loads can be obtained by directly integration of the
second-order pressure on the hull surface of bodys

Coecients of added-mass (A11,A33) and damping (B11,B33) of a oating hemisphere.

Figure 2. Surge and heave Response Amplitude Operator (RAOs) (left) and drift loads in surge and heave (right) on a oating
hemisphere.

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The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

mean position and the variation of the rst-order loads
due to the rst-order motions. The second-order wave
load is then composed of one part dependent on the
quadratic product of the rst-order quantities and
another part contributed by the second-order potential, i.e.:
F; M F1 ; M1 F2 ; M2 with
ZZ
2
F2 ; M2 r
dsFt n; r ^ n

21

bichromatic waves is performed and the approximation of order O(Do) is proposed in Chen (1994).
Furthermore, a new near-eld formulation of lowfrequency wave load is obtained in Chen (2006) by
applying two extended Stokess theorems and the
connection between the near-eld and far-eld formulations based on the momentum theorem, which is
applied only to the special case of wave drift loads, is
found and presented in the following sections.

Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011

where F (Fx,Fy,Fz) stands for the forces, M

(Mx,My,Mz) for the moments and F(2) for the
second-order potential.
The commonly-used formula of the rst part
(F1,M1) is given by:
I
ZZ

rg
F1
d2X3  een r
ds rFrF=2
2 
H

XrFt R ^ Ft n
22a
I
ZZ

rg
d2X3  eer ^ n r
ds rFrF=2
M1
2 
H

XrFt R ^ Ft r ^ n Ft T ^ n
22b

4.1. High-frequency wave load

Without loss of generality, we neglect the eect of rstorder motion on the high-frequency wave load since it
is indeed small in the range of large wave frequencies,
although the extension to including the motion eect is
direct. Furthermore, we consider directly bichromatic
waves associated with frequencies (oj,ok) in which the
rst-order potentials (and other linear quantities) and
the second-order potential written by

in which all quantities are of the rst order as E for the

rst-order free-surface elevation, F for the velocity
potential, X T R ^ r (X1,X2,X3) for the displacement due to the translation T (a1,a2,a3) and
rotation R (a4,a5,a6), and r (x 7x0,y 7y0,z 7z0)
for the position vector with respect to the reference
point (x0,y0,z0) of rotation. In (22),  stands for the
intersection of the hull H at its mean position with the
mean free surface F(z 0) which is supposed to be
wall-sided. The normal vector n is oriented inwards to
the uid, as already described previously.
The line integral in (22) is the result of the
integration of the rst-order pressure on the intermittent zone around the waterline. The rst term in the
hull integral of (22) comes directly from the quadratic
term in (9b) while the second term is the correction of
the rst-order dynamic pressure with respect to the
displacement. The term associated with the rotation R
takes into account the variation of the normal vector.
Finally, the last term in (22b) is the moment induced
by the rst-order dynamic pressure applied to translated reference point.
This pressure-integration formulation is called as
near-eld one as the involved terms are evaluated on
the hull and along the waterline. It is directly used in
the following to evaluate the quadratic transfer
function of high-frequency and low-frequency wave
loads in bichromatic waves. Concerning the lowfrequency wave load, some additional analysis with
respect to the value of frequency dierence (Do) of

with aj0 ; ak0 being amplitudes of rst-order incoming

waves. The second-order incoming velocity potential
f
0 is given while the second-order diraction potential
f
D which satises a non-homogeneous condition over
the free surface is to be evaluated.
The high-frequency wave load is written as:


F ; M < aj0 ak0 f ; m eioj ok t with

f ; m f
1 ; m1 f2 ; m2



F < aj0 fj eioj t ak0 fk eiok t ;
n
o
oj ok t
F2 < aj0 ak0 f
0 fD e

in which (f,m) are the quadratic transfer functions of

high-frequency wave loads. According to (21), the rst

part f
1 ; m1 , depending on the rst-order wave eld,
is written as:
I
ro1 o2

f
;
m

dfj fk n; r ^ n
1
1
2g

ZZ
r

dsrfj rfk n; r ^ n
23a
2 H
resultant from the application of (22) in which the
eect of rst-order motion is neglected, and the second
part depends only on the second-order potential:
ZZ

f
;
m

io

o
r
dsf
j
k
2
0 fD n; r ^ n
2
H

f
20 ; m20 f2D ; m2D

23b

in which the component f

20 ; m20 only contributed by

f0 is easy to evaluate since f0 is analytically known.

132

X. Chen

By introducing an additional radiation potential c

j
following the j th mode of motion at the sum frequency

(oj ok), i.e. c

j satises @cj =@n n; r ^ nj nj on
H and the homogeneous condition oj ok 2 c
j
g@c
j =@z 0 on F, Molin (1979) showed that the
contribution by the second-order diraction potential
can be evaluated by:
ZZ
@f

0
c
f
;
m

io

o
r
ds
j
k
2D
2D j
@n j
H
ZZ
r

ioj ok
dsN F c
24
j
g F

Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011

with the non-homogeneous term N F . It is thus

possible to obtain the diraction loads without solving
explicitly the second-order diraction problem.
However, the numerical computation of this free
surface integral is not easy, N F and cj being
oscillatory with a weak attenuation in the radial

direction. In addition N F contains double derivatives

of the rst-order velocity potential which are dicult
to evaluate directly with a sucient precision, particularly, in the vicinity of the waterline. These
diculties were overcome in Chen (1988) by dividing
the free-surface plane into two domains, limited by a
circle of radius RT. In the interior domain, the integral
is transformed into another surface integral and a
waterline integral and a line integral along the border
which have no double derivatives any more. In the
outer domain, the asymptotic expression of potential
fj, fk and c
j are used to express the free-surface
integral in Fresnel form and computed in an accurate
way.
As a numerical example, the Snorre TLP is
considered. The hull is composed of four columns of
25 m in diameter, 37.5 m in draft and separated by 76 m
axis to axis, linked by four pontoons of square section
11.3 6 11.3 m2. The displacement is nearly 110 000
tonnes. Second-order wave loads with sum-frequency
varying from 1.4 to 2.8 rad/s have been calculated with
the ne mesh (13 888 panels) illustrated on the left of
Figure 3. First check was realised by comparing
numerical computations with available measurements
in model basin. The results presented in Moe (1993) of
vertical double-frequency forces on one of columns of
Snorre TLP in both regular and irregular waves are
shown on Figure 3 with the values of 2o in rad/s as
abscissa. The numerical results in N/m2 are globally in
good agreement with measurements.
The second-order double-frequency forces in surge
are presented on Figure 4 with the real part on the left
and the imaginary part on the right. The results include
the loads on Snorre TLP (squares) in deepwater on the
one hand, and those (solid line) applied on the upper
half part of four vertical columns of 65 m in height

standing on the seabed on the other hand. In addition,

the results (dots) for an isolated columns multiplied
simply by four are also shown. Furthermore, the two
components of double-frequency loads on the group of
four columns, those depending on the rst-order wave
eld and those contributed by the second-order
potential, are shown.
It is observed that there is a good agreement for the
surge forces between the values relative to Snorre TLP
and those for four columns (evidently, this is not true
for the pitch moment and heave force, see Chen et al.,
1995). The contribution from the second-order potential is dominant and of opposite sign to that of the rst
part. Interactions between the columns are important
and can lead to a complete annulling of the forces or to
large amplication up to six or seven times larger than
that acting on an isolated column.
4.2. Low-frequency wave load and its approximation
The second-order low-frequency wave load takes place
at the frequency equal to the dierence of wave
frequencies (oj7ok). In a similar way, we work in
bichromatic waves in which the rst-order quantities
are written as X <faj0 xj eioj t ak0 xk eiok t g and
E <faj0 Zj eioj t ak0 Zk eiok t g. The loads can be decomposed into a part depending only on the rst-order
quantities and another on the second-order potential.
Thus, we may write:
n
o
F ; M < aj0 ak0 f ; m eioj ok t
with





f ; m f
1 ; m1 f20 ; m20 f2D ; m2D

25

in which ak0 means to take the complex conjugate of ak0 .

This rule to denote the complex conjugate by the over
line is applied to all rst-order quantities in the
following.
The rst part of low-frequency wave loads can be
easily obtained by the all the terms in (22). The second

part contributed by the incoming waves f
20 ; m20 is
simple since the second-order incoming potential f
0
is analytically known while the second-order diraction potential which can be evaluated by Molins
method (1979):
 

ZZ
@f0



f

N
;
m

io

o
r
ds
j
k
H cj
2D
2D j
@n
ZHZ
r

ioj  ok
ds N 
26
F cj
g F
where c
is the additional radiation potential at
j

(oj7ok). The non-homogeneous terms are given N H

on the hull and N F on the free surface depending on
the rst-order quantities.

Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011

The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

Figure 3.

Mesh of Snorre TLP (left) and the second-order vertical forces Fz on one of TLP columns (right).

Figure 4.

Fx(2o) on Snorre TLP and on four columns: real part (left) and imaginary part (right).

In summary, the second-order low-frequency wave

load is composed of one part depending on the rstorder quantities and another part on the second-order
potential. The second part can be further decomposed
into one term of integration of incoming wave
pressure, one Haskind integral on the hull and one
Haskind integral over the free surface, the sum of last
two representing the integration of diraction wave
pressure. Thus, we may write the j th component of
QTF:
F
j oj ; ok F21 F20 F2H F2F

27

Furthermore, the QTF F

j oj ; ok is assumed to be
regular function of (oj,ok) and a Taylor expansion
with respect to Do (oj7ok) can be developed:
2
F
j oj ; ok F0 oj F1 oj Do F2 oj Do =2   

The analysis in Chen (1994) shows that the freesurface Haskind integral F2F is of order O[(Do)2] or

133

higher so that an approximation of the low-frequency

QTF is proposed. This approximation (27) to keep all
terms except the free-surface integral is of order
O(Do), an order higher than the approximation of
Newman (1974) which consists of using only the drift
loads and is qualied as the zeroth-order approximation. Furthermore, the numerical results presented in
Chen (1994) using the rst-order approximation are in
good agreement with experimental measurements on
the NKossa FPSO while the wave loads based on
Newmans approximation are largely underestimated.
The simulation of low-frequency motions gives results
too low: RMS being 35% (and extreme values up to
60%) smaller than those of model tests. Very recently,
Newman (2004) conrms that the zeroth-order approximation is poor as the waterdepth is below 100 m.
It is further recognised that the approximation,
including the eects of the second-order incoming
wave potential, and its diraction by the body, but not
the part resulting from the second-order forcing on the
free surface, gives much better results.

0.0000
0.0362
0.0753
0.1179
0.1650
0.2176
0.2773
0.3458
0.4259
0.5208
0.6354
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
70.0001
70.0001
70.0001
0.0000
0.0002
0.0000
0.0224
0.0465
0.0726
0.1012
0.1329
0.1684
0.2088
0.2555
0.3101
0.3753
0.0000
0.0000
70.0087
0.0224
70.0178
0.0465
70.0272
0.0725
70.0371
0.1009
70.0475
0.1323
70.0584
0.1673
70.0699
0.2070
70.0821
0.2526
70.0951
0.3057
70.1088
0.3687
Imaginary part
0.0000
70.0255
70.0510
70.0766
70.1022
70.1277
70.1531
70.1784
70.2035
70.2285
70.2533
0.0000
0.0168
0.0333
0.0494
0.0651
0.0802
0.0947
0.1085
0.1214
0.1335
0.1445
0.0997
0.0941
0.0887
0.0836
0.0788
0.0742
0.0698
0.0654
0.0610
0.0562
0.0509
0.0000
0.0000
0.0001
0.0002
0.0003
0.0005
0.0007
0.0010
0.0012
0.0014
0.0015
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
70.0001
70.0002
70.0004
70.0007
70.0013
70.0022
70.0036
70.0057
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
Real part
0.0997
0.0940
0.0886
0.0835
0.0787
0.0741
0.0698
0.0657
0.0620
0.0584
0.0551
70.0198
70.0175
70.0153
70.0134
70.0116
70.0100
70.0085
70.0072
70.0061
70.0051
70.0042
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
0.50
-

0.1195
0.1115
0.1040
0.0969
0.0902
0.0840
0.0783
0.0730
0.0680
0.0635
0.0594

F2F
F2H
F20
F21
F
FH
FT
F2F
F2H
F20
F21
F
FH
Dk

4.3. Near-eld, far-eld and middle-eld

formulations
In the particular case of ok oj, the low-frequency
wave loads reduce to constant drift loads which are
contributed only by the rst part. The formulation (22)
is called as the near-eld one as it needs the evaluation
of rst-order wave eld around the hull and along the
waterline, as well as the rst-order motions. Another
formulation base on the momentum theorem for the
horizontal drift forces has been developed by Maruo
(1960) and extended to the moment around the vertical
axis by Newman (1967). This formulation involving
rst-order wave eld in the far eld is often called fareld formulation and preferable in practice thanks to
its better convergence and stability. Since the starting
points of the two formulations are so distinct that their
appearances are very dierent especially for oating
bodies, additional terms associated with bodys motion
appear in the near-eld formulation while the far-eld
formulation keeps the same form without explicitly
involving bodys motions. The connection between
both formulations is a bit intriguing.
Very recently, an interesting analysis on the
classical near-eld formulation (22) has been realised
in Chen (2006), based on the use of two extended
Stokess theorems. This analysis shows a new near-eld
formulation:

Low-frequency wave loads in surge at kj0 R 0:3 on a standing cylinder of height h 5R.

To show the relative value of dierent components, we consider a vertical cylinder of radius R and
height h 5R standing on the seabed. The results
for kj0 R 0:3 and Dk kj0  kk0 =kj0 varying from 0
to 0.5 are presented in Table 1 for both the real and
imaginary parts. The terms (F,FH) are respectively
the waterline integral and hull integral of the rst
part F21 while (F20,F2H,F2F) are those of secondorder incoming wave pressure, Haskind hull integral
and Haskind free-surface integral, respectively. The
column FT is the sum of all components. The real
part is tabulated on the left half and the imaginary
part on the right half.
All components are divided by the value of
(2rgRaj0 ak0 ). The waterline integral and the hull integral
have opposite sign and their sum is dominant for the
real part of loads. In the imaginary part, the second
part of loads increases with Dk and becomes dominant
for Dk 4 0.1. Among the three terms of the second
part, the negligible value of the Haskind integral on the
free surface conrms the analysis on the order with
respect to Do. The values of F20 and F2H are very close
and have the same sign. This set of results show again
that the zeroth-order approximation is far from
enough while the rst-order approximation is excellent
for QTFs of low-frequency wave loads.

FT

X. Chen

Table 1.

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134

The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

I
rg
dE 2 n  2EXnk
2 
ZZ
r

dsrFrFn 2rFt bfXn 28a

2 H
I
rg
M1 
dE 2 r ^ n  2EXnr ^ k
2 
ZZ
r

dsrFrFr ^ n 2r ^ rFt Xn

2 H
28b

Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011

F1 

which is essentially similar to (22) with some slight

improvements such as all terms with body motion
(T,R) disappear and the term involving the displacement in the waterline integral gives a contribution only
to the vertical components.
Now we consider a domain D surrounded by
S H [ C [ F with the body hull H at its mean
position, a ctitious (control) surface C surrounding
the body and the mean free surface F limited by the
intersection  of H with z 0 and that c of C with
z 0. In D, the application of Greens theorem gives
another new formulation which is absolutely general as
it can apply to the high-frequency loads as well as the
low-frequency loads, to horizontal load components as
well as vertical load components. The control surface
C can be at a nite distance from the body or one
pushed to innity. In the rst case, C may be pushed
back to H while in the second case, C may be
composed of the surface of a vertical cylinder plus
the seabed. Furthermore, in the case of multiple
bodies, the control surface C can be one surrounding
an individual body and it gives the wave loads applied
on the surrounded body.
An interesting feature of the new formulation
concerns the low-frequency wave load for which the
formulation is simplied. It can be easily checked that
the values of the hull integral and of the rst term in
the free-surface integral are of order O(oj 7 ok).
Furthermore, the waterline integral as well as the
second term in the free-surface integral contribute only
to the vertical loads including the vertical force F
1z and

moments around the horizontal axis M
1x ; M1y . Thus,


the horizontal components F
1x ; F1y ; M1z of lowfrequency loads can be expressed as:
ZZ
I
roj ok
r
j k
k f
 k fj
f

df
n

dsfjn f
F
1
x
n x
1x
2 C
2g
c
 k n1  oj  ok dF
 rfj rf
29a
1x

F
1y

ZZ
r
k f
 k fj
df f n2
dsfjn f
y
n y
2 C
c
 k n2  oj  ok dF
 rfj rf
29b

roj ok

2g

j k

1y

M
1z

135

ZZ
I
roj ok
r
j k
 k  yf
 k

d f f n6
dsfjn xf
y
x
2 C
2g
c
 k xfj  yfj  rfj rf
 k n6  oj  ok dM
f
n

1z

29c


with the additional terms dF
1x ; dF1y ; dM1z given by:
ZZ
r

 k =oj  f
 k fj =ok 
dF1x
dsfjn f
x
n x
2 H
ZZ
r
 k  ok f
 k fj  30a

dsoj fj f
x
x
2g F
ZZ
r

 k =oj  f
 k fj =ok 
dF1y
dsfjn f
y
n y
2 H
ZZ
r
 k  ok f
 k fj 

dsoj fj f
30b
y
y
2g F
ZZ
r
 k yf
 k =oj  f
 k xfj yfj =ok 
dM

dsfjn xf
y
x
n
y
x
1z
2
ZH
Z
r
 k xfj yfj 
 k yf
 k ok f
dsoj fj xf

y
x
y
x
2g
F
30c

The formulations (2930) provide, for the rst

time, an original way to evaluate the horizontal
components of low-frequency wave loads.
In regular waves, the formulation (29) reduces to
the rst two integrals on the control surface since
oj ok. The low-frequency loads by (29) becomes the
drift loads. If the control surface C goes to coincide
with H, we nd the same result as that in Molin and
Hairault (1983) which is based on the use of
momentum theorem. On the opposite side to put the
control surface C to innity, (29) is in agreement with
those by Maruo (1960) and Newman (1967). On the
surface C at innity, asymptotic expressions of
the rst-order potential can be used to simplify further
the formulation to the single integrals involving the
Fourier polar variable.
In practice, we can put the control surface at a
distance from the body where the wave eld is not
much aected by the degree of accuracy in the
description of hull geometry. The distance may not
be very far. In general, a distance equal to the size of
several panels is enough. Furthermore, the form of the
control surface is arbitrary and a parallelepiped surface
is the most convenient. The formulation (29) of
horizontal components of low-frequency wave loads
can be called as the middle-eld formulations which
has the same virtue as the far-eld formulation to have
rapid numerical convergence for horizontal drift loads,
and, in addition, provides the general formulation of

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136

X. Chen

the low-frequency wave loads including both horizontal and vertical components.
Dierent formulations are compared for the case of
a free oating hemisphere of radius R in deepwater. On
the left of Figure 5, the mesh of hemisphere with 390
panels on one quarter of the hull and a control surface
of size (L 6 B 6 H 2.2R 6 2.2R 6 1.1R) are
illustrated. The drift forces FDx =rgRa20 =2 obtained
by dierent formulations are presented on the right
against the wavenumber (k0 R). The results of the new
near-eld formulation (28) are exactly the same as
those of the classical near-eld formulation (22), as
shown mathematically. The results by using the
middle-eld formulation (29) are very close to those
by the classical far-eld formulation, as expected.
The dierence between the near-eld formulation
and the middle-eld formulation is considered to be
associated with the mesh neness.

Now we consider a vertical cylinder of elliptical

section with the ratio of minor to major axis equal to
0.2 standing on the seabed with height equal to the
major axis A. The mesh composed of 400 panels on
one quarter of the hull and the control surface are
presented on the left of Figure 6. On the right, the
second-order drift forces FDy =rgAa20 =2 in an oblique
wave (heading b 158) obtained by using the neareld formulation, middle-eld formulation and fareld formulation are presented. Dierent meshes
composed of 400, 800, 1600 and 2400 panels on one
quarter of the hull are used. The results using the neareld formulation seem not convergent while those
from the middle-eld and far-eld formulations are
very close to each other and not appreciabley dierent
from the results using the nest mesh of 2400 panels
(not present in the gure as they are coincided with the
results using the mesh of 400 panels). This example

Figure 5.

Mesh of hemisphere and control surface (left) and drift loads FDx from dierent formulations (right).

Figure 6.

Mesh of elliptical cylinder & control surface (left) and drift loads FDy for b 158 (right).

137

The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

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shows that the middle-eld formulation is superior to

the near-eld formulation, and provides a robust and
ecient way to evaluate the second-order wave loads.
5. Multi-body interactions
In recent oshore applications, the multi-body interaction becomes more and more a critical issue for
certain complex mooring systems and ooading
operations. The interaction of multiple bodies includes
the mechanical and hydrodynamic interactions. The
mechanical interaction is dened by the mechanical
properties of the connection between bodies which
depend only on the design and operation procedure.
The hydrodynamic interaction is more complex and
requires a complete solution taking account of full
interaction between multiple bodies. In some cases
such as side-by-side vessels, the hydrodynamic interaction may annul any motion in the conned zone at
some wave frequencies, or create violent kinematics of
wave eld at other wave frequencies. Particular
attention to this resonant phenomena is paid and
new method based on the notion of fairly perfect uid
is developed to take into account the damping
mechanism in uid.
The motion equation for multiple bodies (M being
the number of bodies) keeps the similar form as (17b)
with only slight changes:
M X
6 
X

nm
nm
 o2 dnm Mnm
kj Akj  ioBkj

m1 j1


0nm m
n
dnm Cnm
kj Ckj aj Fk

31a

for n 1, 2, . . . ,M and k 1, 2, . . . , 6. In (31a), dnm

mm
is the Kroneker symbol while Mmm
kj and Ckj are the
inertia and hydrostatic matrices of the m th body. The
0
term Ckjnm is the stiness due to mooring systems of m
th body to the earth (n m) or of m th body to n th
body (n6m). Similar to (17a), the matrices Anm
kj and
n
Bnm
,
and
the
rst-order
wave
loads
F
are
given
by:
kj
k
ZZ
nm
ds fm
and
o2 Anm
j nk
kj ioBkj ioio  mr
Hn
ZZ
Fnk io  mra0
ds f0 f7 nk
Hn

31b
with Hn the hull of the n th body. The diraction
potential f7 is obtained by the same equations while
m
the radiation potentials, fm
j satisfying @fj =@n nj on
m
the hull of the mth body and @fj =@n 0 on the hull of
other bodies, are associated with the source distributions sm
j which are accordingly obtained by the integral
equations :

ZZ

ds sm
2psm
j
j Gn
H

nj P  H m
for j 1; 2; . . . ; 6

0 otherwise

31c

with H the union of all bodies hulls. The total velocity

potential of wave eld is then:
!
ZZ
M X
6
X
m
f
ds io
am
j sj a0 s7 G
H

m1 j1

a0 f0 also fm
j

ZZ
H

ds sm
j G

31d

which is a direct extension of (16) for a single oating

body.
A few publications have been released recently on
the resonant motion of wave eld in the conned zone
between two oating bodies. Unlike the resonant
response of bodys motion associated with the balance
of inertia and stiness loads, this resonant kinematics
of uid is due to the hydrodynamic interaction - wave
kinematics annulled or amplied by the complex
scattering between bodies. Within the framework of
the classical linear potential theory, there is not any
limit in predicting wave elevations at the free surface
while the resonant motion in the reality must be largely
damped by dierent mechanisms of dissipation. This
unrealistic uid motion magnies the wave loads on
the bodies. To hold the wave motion back to a realistic
level, Buchner et al. (2001) developed a method
consisting to placing a lid on the gap in between the
two bodies. The unrealistic wave kinematics is then
suppressed. In fact, no wavy elevation is possible under
the rigid lid and noticeable perturbation around the
ends of the lid due to the diraction eect can be
observed. To make wavy motion allowable on the lid,
Newman (2004) renders the lid exible using a set of
basis functions of Chebychev polynomials. The deformation of the exible mat (equal to the free-surface
elevation) is then reduced by introducing a damping
coecient.
Unlike above methods using an articial lid, we
apply directly the authentic equations, presented in the
Section 2, of the fairly perfect uid involving already
the energy dissipation via introducing the damping
force. In the most cases presented foregoing, the
damping coecient m is set to be zero without any
eect to the results. However, this damping term must
play an important role in predicting the wave eld
within the conned zone. The boundary condition (6b)
on the free surface is reported here:
fz  k0 f  i 2 k0 f 0 for P  Fz 0

32

138

X. Chen

with e m/o by comparing to (6b).R RThe free-surface

integral (12b) becomes IF 7i e k0 F fGds
Following the same analysis as that in the Section
3.2, we can write:
ZZ
ds sQGP; Q with S H [ F0 [ F
fP
S

33
and the integral equations to determine the source
distribution s are:
ZZ
ds sQGn P; Q vn P  H 34a
2psP

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ZZ
4psP 

ds sQGn P; Q 0

P  F0

34b

4psP i 2 k0

ZZ
ds sQGP; Q 0

PF

34c
where s 7i e k0 f/(4p) over the free surface F is
derived. The integral Equation (34c) is written over
entire F. However, we know s 0 if e 0 from (34c).
As we need to apply a non-zero value of e only in the
zone where the uid kinematics is susceptible to be
violent, the discretisation of F is limited. A practical
way is to mesh the zone between two vessels on which a
constant or a distribution of e varying in space can be
applied.
The rst example concerns 2 side-by-side barges of
the same dimension in meter (L 6 B 6 T 2.47 6
0.6 60.18) with mechanical properties (zG 0.02 and
gyration radii 0.187/0.527/0.527) free oating in
head waves. The mesh of barges and the whole gap
(0.116 as width) meshed as the damping zone are
presented on the left of Figure 7. The free-surface

Figure 7.

elevation is measured at the centre of the gap. The

model tests were realised in Oceanide and reported by
Rippol (2004). The results of numerical computation
with two values of parameter e 0 and 0.016 are
drawn on the right together with those of measurements, against the wave frequency (rad/s). Large freesurface elevations are remarkable at three wave
frequencies. The results with e 0 (no damping) are
much larger than those measured while the results with
e 0.016 agree well with the measurements. By
comparison between the curves of numerical results
corresponding to e 0 and 0.016, we see that the
damping aects only the values in the range of
frequencies around one where large elevations occur,
as expected.
The second example is the case of a Wigley hull
placed side-by-side with a barge, presented in
Kashiwagi (2004). Both vessels are of dimension
in meter (L 6 B 6 T 2 6 0.3 60.125) and set in
beam waves with the two separation distances
(S1 1.097 and S2 1.797) between two centrelines
of the vessels.
The case of S1 1.097 is considered here. The
mesh of two vessels is represented on the left of Figure
8 on which a rectangular zone (damping zone) between
the vessels is shown as well. On the damping zone, The
values e 0 (no damping) and e 0.016 are applied.
On the right of the gure, two separate control surfaces
surrounding respectively the two vessels are illustrated
together with the vessels mesh. The drift loads in the
beam sea with the Wigley hull on the weather side are
computed and compared with the measurements by
Kashiwagi (2004). Two vessels are xed during model
tests. The middle-eld formulation is used and the
results are found to be quite close to those by the neareld formulation. The comparison of drift loads is
presented on Figure 9. The sway drift forces
FDy rgLa20 =2 on the Wigley hull and on the barge

Mesh of 2 side-by-side barges and damping zone (left) and wave elevation in the gap centre (right).

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The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

are shown against the wavenumber k0 L/2 on the left
and on the right, respectively. Furthermore, the sway
drift forces on the Wigley hull alone (without the
barge) and those on the barge alone (without the
Wigley hull) are represented by the dashed lines.
It can be seen in Figure 9 that the numerical results
from the middle-eld formulation are in good agreement with measurements, except those around k0 L/
2  4.71 where large values appear. The curves (solid
lines) with e 0.016 are very close to those (dotdashed lines) of e 0 (no damping) except around
k0 L/2  4.71 where the curves with damping are closer
to the model tests, as expected. This shows the
importance of damping eect on the strong interaction
between two vessels, and the utility of the small
parameter introduced in the boundary condition at the
free surface.
It is remarkable that the sway drift force on the
Wigley hull on the weather side of beam waves
becomes large negative around k0 L/2  4.71 while
the force on the barge (on the lee side) keeps the same
sign and with large values. The sum of forces on two
vessels remains positive in the whole range of wave

139

frequency. This shows again that the multibody

interaction is important and can create large forces
of repulsion (and attraction as well) between two
bodies. At large wave frequencies, the barge on the lee
side withstands less forces than those when it is alone
due to the screen eect of the Wigley hull on the
weather side. At the limit of innity frequency, the drift
forces on the barge should be nil while those on the
Wigley hull tend to the value rgLa20 =2 when it stands
alone in beam waves.
6. Eect of liquid motion in tanks
The full account of liquid motion in tanks such as
sloshing eect is dicult due to the non-linearity of the
phenomena and a time-domain solution of coupling is
necessary as presented in Malenica et al. (2003). It is
assumed that the major eect to vessels global motion
is linear so that a solution in frequency domain is
possible. This assumption is indeed valid when the
liquid motion in tanks is not violent in the range
outside of resonant sloshing frequency. At low wave
frequencies, only the hydrostatic eect is important

Figure 8.

Mesh of 2 side-by-side vessels & damping zone (left) and mesh of control surfaces (right).

Figure 9.

Drift load FDy on Wigley hull (left) and that on the barge (right) in beam sea (b 908).

140

X. Chen

and can be taken into account just by introducing

0
0
0
negative values for the non-zero terms C44 ; C45 ; C55
of stiness matrix in (17b).
In general cases especially at a wave frequency close
to one of resonance, the liquid motion induces
additional inertia loads and damping if energy
dissipation is modelled. In fact, the motion Equation
(17b) of the vessel is modied as:
6
X

o2 Mkj Akj A0kj  ioBkj B0kj

j1

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Ckj C0kj aj Fk

35

for k 1, 2, . . . ,6 and the inertia matrix Mkj

associated with the mass distribution excluding the
0
liquid in tanks. The additional mass matrix Akj is equal
to that to consider the liquid as a solid mass in classical
approximation valid for low frequencies and the
0
damping Bkj 0 in this case.
The linear velocity potential due to forcing oscillations of the tank can be solved in the same way as the
solution of radiation problem for the vessel. The
0
0
matrices Akj and Bkj can then be obtained by the rst
identity of (17a). In the local coordinate system of a
tank, the forcing potentials fj satisfy the same set of
equations as the radiation potential, except that the
potential f3 due to heave motion. The forcing
potential f3 f03 j3 possesses an additional solution j3 z due to the vertical variation of the mean
waterplane, while f03 is solved as the heave radiation
potential. The forcing potentials in roll and pitch have
the similar additional terms which disappear if the
waterplane centre is chosen as the reference centre of
rotation. The detail is given in Malenica et al. (2003) in
which the dissipation mechanism is approximated by
modifying the boundary condition on the tank walls.

Figure 10.

At low wave frequencies, the contribution of liquid

in tanks is nearly like solid mass. When wave frequency
approaches the resonant frequency, the value of inertia
increases rapidly without limit at the resonance if no
damping (e 0) is introduced. The introduction of
damping (e 6 0) reduces the value of added-inertia and
increases the damping (not presented for the sake of
space). The added-inertia changes the sign when the
wave frequency goes across the tank resonant frequency. This variation of inertia modies the roll
response of the barge. Instead of one peak without
dynamic eect of liquid motion, there are two: one on
the left of the tank resonance and another on the right.
This can be explained by the fact that the inertia is
largely amplied when the excitation frequency is close
to but smaller than the rst tank resonant frequency,
the peak of global response is then shifted on the left.
At the tank resonance, the response is largely reduced
due to the large value (up to innity if no damping) of
added-inertia. At a higher wave frequency, the large
negative values of the inertia due to liquid motion yield
a second peak resultant from a new balance between
the total inertia force and stiness force of the system.
A LNG carrier of 274 m in length, 44.2 m in width
and 11.58 in draught is considered. The tank no. 2 of
size (L 6 B 47.18 6 39.1) and the tank no. 4 of
size (L 6 B 41.4 6 39.1) with a lling height of
10 m are placed at the position 144.55 m and 64.25 m
from the after perpendicular of LNG, respectively. The
bottom of tanks is at the height of 3 m from the
baseline. The mesh of LNG together with the two
tanks are illustrated on the left of Figure 10.
Dierent sets of model tests in irregular waves
varying signicant height HS, from 2.5 m to 6 m, and
peak periods TP, from 8 s to 16 s, associated with the
spectrum of Jonswap type were made with a length
scale of 1:50. The results of numerical computations

Mesh of LNG carrier and two tanks (left) and sway RAOs in beam sea (b 2708) (right).

The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

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Figure 11.

Heave RAOs (left) and roll RAOs (right) in beam sea (b 2708).

with e 0 and 0.02 are compared with those of

measurements. The RAO of sway motion is presented
on the right of Figure 10 while those of heave and roll
are on the left and right of Figure 11. There is no
signicant dierence between the results with e 0
and those with e 0.02 except the peak values of sway
and roll are slightly smaller for e 0.02, as expected.
It is shown that the numerical results are in very good
agreement with model tests. Not only the position of
peaks in sway and roll motions of numerical computation coincides with that of measurements, but also the
values of peaks in two sets of results are in excellent
agreement.
7.

141

Discussion and conclusion

We have presented our recent research and developments in the hydrodynamic domain and the oshore
applications. It consists essentially of the theoretical
and numerical work based on the rst-order and
second-order theory of potential ow in the frequency
domain.
Adopting the notion of fairly perfect uid, the
dissipation to reduce (to a reasonable level by
comparing to model tests) the resonant kinematics of
wave elevation is included via the boundary condition
at the free surface. Following the same principle, the
boundary condition on bodys hull can be modied as
well to include a partial reection equivalent to energy
dissipation in boundary layer. The new integral
equations are established following these modications. The applications to the side-by-side multibody
interaction and to the liquid motion in tanks show its
soundness and eciency. It is natural to extend the
application to the moonpool issue for which the
success can be envisioned. In spite of these successful
applications, the method remains to be an approximation to the dissipation mechanism an important and
complex aspect of uid mechanics. The involved

parameters need to be determined by comparing to

experimental measurements or results of elaborated
CFD simulations.
Important work has been realised in the formulation and numerical computation of the second-order
wave loads including the high-frequency and lowfrequency components. New formulations have been
developed owing to the analyse work in Chen (2006).
Especially, the connection between the near-eld and
far-eld formulations for the drift load, and the
middle-eld formulation for the low-frequency wave
load are very interesting. Unlike the near-eld formulation which is known for its poor numerical
convergence, and the far-eld formulation which
provides only the sum of drift loads on all bodies,
the middle-eld formulation has the same virtue as the
far-eld formulation to have rapid convergence and
gives access to the drift load on each individual body.
Furthermore, the middle-eld formulation can be used
to compute the low-frequency load (QTF) and
extended to evaluate the vertical drift loads as well as
the vertical components of low-frequency loads.
All innovative developments have been conducted
to the realisation of the software HydroStar - the
hydrodynamic part of the software package VeriSTAR-Oshore of Bureau Veritas. It has beneted from
continuous elaborations, inspirations of most recent
theoretical ndings and developments of ecient
numerical algorithms. The analysis on the free-surface
Green function of wave diraction and radiation in
water of nite depth leads to the development of
powerful algorithms. The removal of irregular frequencies by the extended integral equation method
solves the issue associated with the classical method.
The implementation of innovative formulations for the
computation of second-order wave loads creates new
reliable and practical options. Applications to multibody interaction and the dynamic eect of liquid
motion in tanks with numerous results extend the

142

X. Chen

range of validity of established formulations and

developed algorithms, and enrich the database of
HydroStar.

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