The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering

Vol. 4, No. 3, August 2011, 124–142

Offshore hydrodynamics and applications

Xiaobo Chen*
Bureau Veritas, 67/71 Bd du Château, 92571 Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France
(Received 21 January 2011; final version received 24 April 2011)

A short survey of recent research and developments in the hydrodynamic domain and their applications in offshore
engineering is presented. The survey is limited to the first-order and second-order potential theory of wave radiation
and diffraction around a fixed or floating 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 fluid, the elimination of irregular
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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 effect 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, semi-
submersibles and Tension Leg Platforms (TLPs).
Keywords: wave diffraction and radiation; linear wave load; high-frequency wave load; low-frequency wave load;
wave induced response; multibody interaction; dynamic effect of liquid motion in tanks

1. Introduction appearance of irregularities at a discrete set of

Hydrodynamic analysis of wave action on offshore
structures and ships are critically important in both
design and operational studies. In the classification
activities of Bureau Veritas, it is also essential to be
able to perform hydrodynamic calculations, as part of
an independent verification of engineering designs.
This article summarises our important part of the work
in hydrodynamic research, development and applica-
tions 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 effect in potential flows.
We start with the presentation of basic equations
describing the potential flow of wave diffraction and
radiation. In the momentum equation, a fictitious force
depending on the fluid velocity is introduced in the
same way as Guével (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 first order and second order are
then developed.
The integral equation of the first-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
frequencies embedded in the original Fredholm in-
tegral 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
efficiency of the method.
The formulations and computations of second-
order wave loads are elaborated in Section 4. The
second-order high-frequency loads are important to
evaluate the springing effect 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 body’s mean position
and the variation of the first-order loads due to the
first-order motions. In general, the high-frequency
wave load is not much affected by the first-order
motion as we are interested in the range of small wave
periods, while the low-frequency load must be com-
puted by fully taking into account of the first-order
motion. Both high-frequency and low-frequency
wave loads are treated with some typical results
from numerical computations and experimental
measurements.

*Email: xiao-bo.chen@bureauveritas.com

ISSN 1937-3260 print/ISSN 1937-3279 online

Ó 2011 The Institution of Engineers, Singapore
DOI: 10.1080/19373260.2011.595903
http://www.informaworld.com
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering
Much more work has been devoted to the low-
frequency wave load than that to the high-frequency
wave load. Amongst the publication on the low-
frequency load, more attention is paid on the constant
drift load. In particular, two classes of formulations
have been developed. One is called the near-field
formulation derived from the pressure integration on
body’s hull, as in Molin (1979) or Pinkster (1980).
Another called the far-field formulation by Maruo
(1960) and Newman (1967) is obtained by applying the
momentum theorem to the fluid domain.
Based on the use of two extended Stokes’s
theorems, it is shown mathematically in Chen (2006)
that both formulations are equivalent. A new near-field
formulation is obtained by direct application of the
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extended Stokes’s theorems. It is essentially similar to
the classical one with some improvements as terms
associated directly with body’s translations and rota-
tions disappear. It can be used as an alternative to
evaluate the high-frequency as well as the low-
frequency loads. Applying the Green’s 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 simplified. 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-field
formulation. It is shown that it has the same virtue as
the far-field 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-field 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 amplifies the
interaction and can yield large kinematics of wave field
in the confined 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 different 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
fluid 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 efficient and provides results closer to the experi-
mental measurements.
In Section 6, the effect of liquid motion in partially-
filled tanks of a LNG carrier is taken into account in
the seakeeping analysis. Classically, only the hydro-
static effect is taken into account by subtracting the
corresponding stiffness from the global hydrostatic
matrix. This is only valid for very low wave
frequencies. The dynamic effect is important especially
at a wave frequency close to one resonance frequency
of tanks. Under the assumption of linear potential
flow, the fluid motion in tanks can be evaluated by
solving the boundary value problem involving the
same Green function which satisfies the free surface
condition. To approximate the damping effect to liquid
motion in tanks, the condition on tanks’ wall is
modified by introducing a small positive parameter
equivalent to a partial reflection 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 effect of liquid motion with the global motion
of vessels.
The article is terminated by giving some discussions
and conclusions. All developments have been con-
ducted to the realisation of our in-house software
HydroStar, the hydrodynamic part of the software
package VeriSTAR-Offshore of Bureau Veritas.
This article is intended to give a limited survey on
the recent research and development in the domain of
offshore hydrodynamics realised in the Research
Department of Bureau Veritas. Most part of the
work is author’s 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 flow of fairly perfect fluid
We consider floating 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 defined by letting (x,y) plane
coincide with the mean free surface and z-axis be
positive upwards. The fluid is assumed to be
incompressible and inviscid while the fluid motion
 126 X. Chen

irrotational. Under these assumptions of a perfect mean free surface (z ¼ 0), we obtain the boundary
fluid, the flow velocity V ¼ (V1,V2,V3) can be value problems of different orders.
expressed as V ¼ rF the gradient of a scalar At the first order, the linear problem of wave
potential F(P,t) in the space P ¼ (x,y,z) at the time radiation and diffraction is defined by:
t which satisfies the Laplace equation according to
the mass conservation. The fluid is under the action r2 Fð1Þ ¼ 0 PD ð6aÞ
of gravity. Besides this gravitational field, an internal
ð1Þ ð1Þ
force gFð1Þ
z þ Ftt þ mFt ¼ 0 P  Fðz ¼ 0Þ ð6bÞ
ð1Þ
f ¼ mV ð1Þ Fð1Þ
n ¼ Xt n; PH ð6cÞ

is assumed to apply to the fluid particle as well. The Fð1Þ

parameter m being assumed to be positive and small,
this force is proportional to the magnitude of fluid
velocity but in the opposite direction. Although
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z ¼ 0 P  Bðz ¼ hÞ ð6dÞ
in which D stands for the fluid domain limited by the
mean free-surface F, the body surface H, the sea bed B

playing the same role of damping fluid motion and and a cylindrical surface C(x2þy2 ! ?) at the infinity.
dissipating energy as that of fluid viscosity, it does The so-called radiation condition requiring that F
not introduce any vorticity so that the existence of disappears on C is satisfied automatically in the fairly
ð1Þ
velocity potential is safeguarded. The inviscid and perfect fluid. Xt on the right hand side of (6c) is the
irrotational fluid with the fictitious force is called by vector of body velocity on H which is explicited
Guével (1982) as fairly perfect fluid. The momentum afterward.
equation in the fairly perfect fluid is slightly The second-order problem of wave radiation and
modified and the associated Bernoulli equation is diffraction is defined by:
expressed as:
r2 Fð2Þ ¼ 0 PD ð7aÞ
Pr =r þ gz þ Ft þ rFrF=2 þ mF ¼ CðtÞ ð2Þ
ð2Þ ð2Þ ð2Þ
gFð2Þ
z þ Ftt þ mFt ¼ NF P  Fðz ¼ 0Þ ð7bÞ
with C(t) an arbitrary function of t usually
omitted by redefining F without affecting the velocity
field. Fð2Þ
ð2Þ ð2Þ
n ¼ Xt n þ NH PH ð7cÞ
On the free surface, the dynamic condition requires
that the pressure given from (2) is equal to the
atmospheric pressure. Furthermore, a particle in Fð2Þ
z ¼0 P  Bðz ¼ hÞ ð7dÞ
motion at the free surface stays always on the same
ð2Þ
surface. Combining both the dynamic and kinematic in which NF stands for the non-homogeneous term
conditions yields a compound form: on the right hand side of the second-order free
ð2Þ
surface condition and NH the supplementary term
gFz þ Ftt þ mFt þ 2rFrFt þ rF  rðrFrFÞ=2 ¼ 0 on the right hand side of body surface condition.
ð2Þ ð2Þ
ð3Þ NF and NH are quadratic functions of the first-
order quantities given by:
on the exact free surface given by:
ð2Þ ð1Þ ð1Þ ð1Þ
NF ¼ 2rFt rFð1Þ  eð1Þ ½gFð1Þ
zz þ Fztt þ mFzt ;
EðP; tÞ ¼ ðFt þ rFrF=2 þ mFÞ=g ð4Þ ð2Þ ð1Þ
NH ¼ ½Xt  rFð1Þ ðRð1Þ ^ nÞ  ½ðXð1Þ rÞrFð1Þ n
The last assumption concerns a small steepness of ð8Þ
incident waves. A perturbation solution in terms of this
small parameter is permitted such that the velocity with R(1) ¼ (a4,a5,a6) the vector of body rotations (roll
potential is expanded as: a4, pitch a5 and yaw a6) around the reference point
O(x0,y0,z0) and n the normal vector.
FðP; tÞ ¼ Fð1Þ ðP; tÞ þ Fð2Þ ðP; tÞ þ    ð5Þ Furthermore, the free surface elevation is given by
ð1Þ
as well as other physical values, i.e. dynamic pressures, E ð1Þ ¼ ðFt þ mFð1Þ Þ=g;
free surface elevations, wave loads and body’s motions. ð2Þ
E ð2Þ ¼ ðFt þ mFð2Þ
Introducing the expansion (5) into the Laplace
ð1Þ
equation and (3) and developing F(z ¼ E) above the þ rFð1Þ rFð1Þ =2Þg  E ð1Þ ½Fzt þ mFð1Þ
z  ð9aÞ
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering 127

evaluated at z ¼ 0, and the pressure on the body (C). The integral on the surface at infinity is nil in
surface the fluid with dissipation. The integral over the sea
bed is nil as well.
ð1Þ ð1Þ
Pð1Þ ð1Þ
r =r ¼ gX3  Ft  mF ; The Equation (11) is then reduced to:
Pð2Þ
ð2Þ ð2Þ
ð2Þ
 rFð1Þ rFð1Þ =2 ZZ
r =r ¼ gX3  Ft  mF
4pFðPÞ ¼ dsðFn G  FGn Þ þ IF ðFÞ for P  D
ð9bÞ H
ð12aÞ
ð1Þ ð2Þ
with (X3 ; X3 ) the vertical displacement of the first-
order and second-order, respectively. in which the integral over the free surface IF(F) is
In the following, the first-order quantities such as evaluated by making use of (6b) and (10b):
(E (1), F(1)) are written as (E, F) wheresoever without ZZ
confusion for the sake of simplicity, while the second- IF ðFÞ ¼ dsðFn G  FGn Þ
order potential F(2) keeps its form to distinguish F
ZZ
from F. dsðGFtt  FGtt þ mGFt  m0 FGt Þ
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3. Integral equations and removal of irregular
frequencies
To solve the first-order boundary value problem
defined by (6), we consider one fundamental solution
which satisfies the following equations:
r2 GðP; Q; tÞ ¼ 4p dðP  QÞ PD ð10aÞ
gGz þ Gtt þ m0 Gt ¼ 0 P  Fðz ¼ 0Þ ð10bÞ
Gz ¼ 0 P  Bðz ¼ hÞ ð10cÞ
in which (P,Q) are respectively the field point P(x,y,z)
and singular point Q(x0 ,y0 ,z0 ), and the Dirac function
d(P7Q) ¼ 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
field of velocity potential at P(x,y,z) created by a
source of unit density located at Q(x0 ,y0 ,z0 ).
Applying Green’s second formula to the couple of
harmonic functions (F, G), we have:
ZZ  same as (12b) in which F is replaced by F0 . The free-
@FðQÞ
4pFðPÞ ¼ GðP; QÞ
SðQÞ @nðQÞ

@GðP; QÞ
 FðQÞ dsðQÞ ð11Þ
@nðQÞ
in which the normal vector n is oriented positively
towards fluid. 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 ship’s hull (H), the mean free
surface (F), the sea bed (B) and a surface at infinity
¼ ð1=gÞ
F
ð12bÞ
This free surface integral IF(F) is simplified or
equal to zero in most cases of wave radiation and
diffraction without forward speed, or can be
transformed into a line integral for the wave
radiation and diffraction 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 Green’s second formula:
ZZ
 0 
4pFðPÞ ¼ ds ðFn  Fn ÞG  ðF  F0 ÞGn
H
þ IF ðFÞ þ IF 0 ðF0 Þ for P  D [ D0 ð12cÞ
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
surface 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 diffraction around offshore
structures
We consider a floating body without forward speed on
the surface of a fairly perfect fluid in the presence of an
incident propagative wave. The fluid 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 evaluated. The integration of the first term (rgX3) in
velocity potential and the Green function as: (9b) plus the variation of gravity load give the
hydrostatic stiffness Cij.
FðP; tÞ ¼ <e ffðPÞeiwt g and The second term in (9b) yields two parts: the
ð13Þ
GðP; Q; tÞ ¼ <e fGðP; QÞe iwt
g added-mass coefficients (Akj) and damping coefficients
(Bkj), and wave exciting loads Fk which are defined by
integration of the pressure due to radiation waves and
in which Re{} stands for taking the real part. the pressure due to incoming and diffracted waves,
The time-harmonic potential is further expressed as respectively
the sum of various components: ZZ
2
X
6 o Akj þ ioBkj ¼ ioðio  mÞr ds fj nk and
f ¼ io aj fj þ a0 ðf0 þ f7 Þ ð14aÞ Z ZH
j¼1 Fk ¼ ðio  mÞra0 dsðf0 þ f7 Þnk
H
in which f1,2, . . . ,6 are radiation potentials correspond- ð17aÞ
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ing to six degree of freedom oscillations of the body

and a1,2, . . . ,6 are amplitude of corresponding motions. Finally, the motion amplitude of floating bodies is
f0 is the potential of incoming waves and given by evaluated by solving the motion equation:
X6 h i
g cosh k0 ðz þ hÞ ikoðx cos bþy sin bÞ 0
o2 ðMkj þ Akj Þ  ioBkj þ Ckj þ Ckj aj ¼ Fk
f0 ¼  e ð15Þ
o cosh k0 h j¼1

while f7 is the potential due to the diffracted 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 ¼ k0 ¼ o2 =g. Furthermore, we suppose
F0 satisfies 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 ¼ f on H and write s ¼ fn7fn0 as the density of
source without changing the result for any point P D,
\
ð17bÞ
0
in which Mkj and Ckj for k,j ¼ 1, 2, . . . ,6 are the
inertia and additional stiffness 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

so that: Ursell (1981). At a frequency in the vicinity of these

ZZ irregular frequencies, the solution of boundary integral
X
6
equation is wrong as it doesn’t represent any physical
f¼ dsðio aj sj þ a0 s7 ÞG þ a0 f0 i:e:
H j¼1
significance. A plausible explication given in Mei
Z (1989) may start with (12c) considering the boundary
fj ¼ dssj G ð16aÞ value problem in the domain D0 inside the body. As we
H have chosen f0 ¼ f to obtain (16), a Dirichlet
condition on the interior side of H and the same
The source distributions sj in (16) for j ¼ 1, 2, . . . , condition on the interior free surface F0 as that on F,
7 is determined by satisfying the boundary condition this interior problem has eigensolutions defined by the
on the body’s hull H: homogeneous problem:
ZZ 
nj j ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; 6 r2 cm ¼ 0 P  D0 ; @cm =@z  nm cm ¼ 0 P  F0 and
2psj þ dssj Gn ¼
H @f 0 =@n j¼7 0
cm ¼ 0 P  H ð18Þ
ð16bÞ

In (16b), the generalised vector (n1,n2, . . . ,n6) is
defined as (n1,n2,n3) ¼ n and (n4,n5,n6) ¼ r ^ n in
which r ¼ (x7x0,y7y0,z7z0) with O(x0,y0,z0) as the
reference point of rotation.
Once the integral Equation (16b) is solved, the first-
order time-harmonic pressure given by (9b) can be
in which nm ¼ o2m =g with om the m th eigenfrequency.
If o ¼ om, the inhomogeneous problem for f0 does
not have a unique solution so that the source
distribution s ¼ @(f7 f0 )/@n is not unique neither.
Since the unphysical appearing of irregular fre-
quencies is associated with the eigensolution of the
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering 129

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

0
0 0
locations are determined by the eigenfrequencies. In IF0 ðf Þ ¼ dsðfn G  f Gn Þ ¼ k 0
dsf0 G
general, less the interior free surface F0 is, higher the F0
ZZ F0
eigenfrequency. If F0 ! 0, a body submerged, all  ðio=gÞ dsðmf0 G  m0 f0 GÞ
irregular frequencies tend to infinity. For floating F0
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 where we have used Gn ¼ 7Gz ¼ 7k0 G. The second
consider a box of the same length/width/draft (L/B/ integral on the right side is zero if m ¼ m 0  1 so that
T) as the ship. As the interior free surface of the box is the Equation (12c) becomes:
larger than the ship’s waterplane, the first irregular ZZ
0
frequency is higher than that of the box. Furthermore, 4pfðPÞ ¼ dsðfn  fn ÞG
as the ratio of width/length is small, the first ZHZ
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffikirr  p/B so that oirr 
eigen-wavenumber þ dsðk0 f0 ÞG for P  D [ D0 ð19aÞ
gðp=BÞ= tanhðpT=BÞ as the estimation of the lowest
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F0
irregular frequency for a ship. In the case of one
body with multiple hulls or multiple bodies, we can get Now if we use the symbol s(Q) stands for the
the first irregular frequency for each individual hull/ source distribution:
body and retain the lowest one which is the most 0
boring. 4psðQÞ ¼ fn ðQÞ  fn ðQÞ for Q  H and
Nowadays there are several methods developed to 4psðQÞ ¼ k0 f0 ðQÞ for Q  F0
remove the effect of irregular frequencies for a body of
arbitrary geometry. (19a) can then be written as:
One method consists of applying two additional ZZ
conditions at one point inside the body, actually on F0 fðPÞ ¼ ds sðQÞGðP; QÞ for P  D [ D0
to ensure the resultant matrix be good conditioned. H[F0
The resultant linear system becomes overdetermined ð19bÞ
and is solved by special methods. The second method
called modified integral equation method by Lee and The boundary condition fn ¼ vn on H gives the
Sclavounos (1989) is based on combining the original integral equation:
integral equation for the potential and an additional ZZ
integral equation for the normal velocity by a complex 2psðPÞ ¼ ds sðQÞGn ðP; QÞ ¼ vn for P  H
parameter with no-zero imaginary part. The new H[F0
integral equation mathematically free of irregular ð20aÞ
frequency, however, presents two disadvantages in
the numerical respect. The necessity to evaluate the with vn ¼ nj for j ¼ 1, 2, . . . , 6 radiation problems and
second-order derivatives of the Green function needs a vn ¼ 7@f0/@n diffraction problem. For a point P F0 ,

special treatment, and the choice of the combining
parameter on which greatly depends the efficiency of
the method is not a simple affair. The third one called
the extended integral equation method profits 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 effect
since all irregular frequencies disappear. A detail
analysis of different 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 ¼ 0 on the
interior free surface F0 . In this case, the interior
potential f0 satisfies a Neumann-type condition on F0
and a Dirichlet-type condition on H. This boundary-
value problem has a unique solution according to
Kellogg (1929). Similar to (12b), the integral over F0 :
\
by multiplying the both sides of (19b) by 7k0 and
using the identity 7k0 G ¼ Gn, the Equation (19b)
becomes:
ZZ
4psðPÞ  ds sðQÞGn ðP; QÞ ¼ 0 for P  F0
H[F0
ð20bÞ
The integrals in (20) over the union of body hull H
and interior free surface F0 are of Cauchy principal-
value integral. This extended boundary-integral meth-
od is simple to implement and shown to be efficient.
The added-mass coefficients (A11,A33)/(rR32p/3) and
the radiation damping coefficients (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
 130
integral equation method gives the smooth results
across the location of irregular frequencies. Comparing
with the analytical results from Hulme (1982) confirms
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.
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4. Second-order wave loads
The second-order wave loads are composed of sum-
frequency loads and difference-frequency loads. The
sum-frequency load often called high-frequency load is
an oscillatory load at the frequency equal to the sum of
first-order wave frequencies while the difference-
frequency load often called low-frequency load
Figure 1. Coefficients of added-mass (A11,A33) and damping (B11,B33) of a floating hemisphere.
Figure 2. Surge and heave Response Amplitude Operator (RAOs) (left) and drift loads in surge and heave (right) on a floating
hemisphere.
X. Chen
oscillates at the frequency equal to the difference of
first-order wave frequencies. Same as the double-
frequency 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 body’s
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering 131

mean position and the variation of the first-order loads bichromatic waves is performed and the approxima-
due to the first-order motions. The second-order wave tion of order O(Do) is proposed in Chen (1994).
load is then composed of one part dependent on the Furthermore, a new near-field formulation of low-
quadratic product of the first-order quantities and frequency wave load is obtained in Chen (2006) by
another part contributed by the second-order poten- applying two extended Stokes’s theorems and the
tial, i.e.: connection between the near-field and far-field for-
mulations based on the momentum theorem, which is
ðF; MÞ ¼ ðF1 ; M1 Þ þ ðF2 ; M2 Þ with applied only to the special case of wave drift loads, is
ZZ
ð2Þ ð21Þ found and presented in the following sections.
ðF2 ; M2 Þ ¼ r dsFt ðn; r ^ nÞ
H

where F ¼ (Fx,Fy,Fz) stands for the forces, M ¼
(Mx,My,Mz) for the moments and F(2) for the
second-order potential.
The commonly-used formula of the first part
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4.1. High-frequency wave load
Without loss of generality, we neglect the effect of first-
order motion on the high-frequency wave load since it
is indeed small in the range of large wave frequencies,

(F1,M1) is given by: although the extension to including the motion effect is
I ZZ direct. Furthermore, we consider directly bichromatic
rg 
F1 ¼ d‘ð2X3  eÞen þ r ds rFrF=2 waves associated with frequencies (oj,ok) in which the
2  H first-order potentials (and other linear quantities) and

þ XrFt þ R ^ Ft n ð22aÞ the second-order potential written by
I ZZ 
rg 
M1 ¼ d‘ð2X3  eÞeðr ^ nÞ þ r ds ½rFrF=2 F ¼ < aj0 fj eioj t þ ak0 fk eiok t ;
2  H n o
Fð2Þ ¼ < aj0 ak0 ðfþ þ ðoj þok Þt
þ XrFt þ R ^ Ft ðr ^ nÞ þ Ft T ^ n ð22bÞ 0 þ fD Þe

in which all quantities are of the first order as E for the with ðaj0 ; ak0 Þ being amplitudes of first-order incoming
first-order free-surface elevation, F for the velocity waves. The second-order incoming velocity potential
potential, X ¼ T þ R ^ r ¼ (X1,X2,X3) for the dis- fþ0 is given while the second-order diffraction potential
placement due to the translation T ¼ (a1,a2,a3) and fþD which satisfies a non-homogeneous condition over
rotation R ¼ (a4,a5,a6), and r ¼ (x 7x0,y 7y0,z 7z0) the free surface is to be evaluated.
for the position vector with respect to the reference The high-frequency wave load is written as:
point (x0,y0,z0) of rotation. In (22),  stands for the 
intersection of the hull H at its mean position with the ðFþ ; Mþ Þ ¼ < aj0 ak0 ðfþ ; mþ Þeiðoj þok Þt with
mean free surface F(z ¼ 0) which is supposed to be ðfþ ; mþ Þ ¼ ðfþ þ þ þ
1 ; m1 Þ þ ðf2 ; m2 Þ
wall-sided. The normal vector n is oriented inwards to
the fluid, as already described previously. in which (fþ,mþ) are the quadratic transfer functions of
The line integral in (22) is the result of the high-frequency wave loads. According to (21), the first
integration of the first-order pressure on the inter- part ðfþ þ
1 ; m1 Þ, depending on the first-order wave field,
mittent zone around the waterline. The first term in the is written as:
hull integral of (22) comes directly from the quadratic I
ro1 o2
term in (9b) while the second term is the correction of ðfþ1 ; mþ
1 Þ ¼ d‘fj fk ðn; r ^ nÞ
the first-order dynamic pressure with respect to the 2g 
ZZ
displacement. The term associated with the rotation R r
þ dsrfj rfk ðn; r ^ nÞ ð23aÞ
takes into account the variation of the normal vector. 2 H
Finally, the last term in (22b) is the moment induced
by the first-order dynamic pressure applied to trans- resultant from the application of (22) in which the
lated reference point. effect of first-order motion is neglected, and the second
This pressure-integration formulation is called as part depends only on the second-order potential:
near-field one as the involved terms are evaluated on ZZ
the hull and along the waterline. It is directly used in ðfþ
2 ; m þ
2 Þ ¼ iðo j þ ok Þr dsðfþ þ
0 þ fD Þðn; r ^ nÞ
the following to evaluate the quadratic transfer H
function of high-frequency and low-frequency wave ¼ ðfþ þ þ þ
20 ; m20 Þ þ ðf2D ; m2D Þ ð23bÞ
loads in bichromatic waves. Concerning the low-
frequency wave load, some additional analysis with in which the component ðfþ þ
20 ; m20 Þ only contributed by
þ þ
respect to the value of frequency difference (Do) of f0 is easy to evaluate since f0 is analytically known.
 132 X. Chen

By introducing an additional radiation potential cþ j standing on the seabed on the other hand. In addition,
following the j th mode of motion at the sum frequency the results (dots) for an isolated columns multiplied
(oj þ ok), i.e. cþ þ
j satisfies @cj =@n ¼ ðn; r ^ nÞj ¼ nj on simply by four are also shown. Furthermore, the two
H and the homogeneous condition ðoj þ ok Þ2 cþ j components of double-frequency loads on the group of
þg@cþ j =@z ¼ 0 on F, Molin (1979) showed that the four columns, those depending on the first-order wave
contribution by the second-order diffraction potential field and those contributed by the second-order
can be evaluated by: potential, are shown.
ZZ It is observed that there is a good agreement for the
@fþ surge forces between the values relative to Snorre TLP
ðfþ
2D ; m þ
Þ
2D j ¼ iðo j þ ok Þr ds 0
cþ
H @n j and those for four columns (evidently, this is not true
ZZ
r þ for the pitch moment and heave force, see Chen et al.,
þ iðoj þ ok Þ dsN F cþj ð24Þ
g F 1995). The contribution from the second-order poten-
tial is dominant and of opposite sign to that of the first
þ
with the non-homogeneous term N F . It is thus part. Interactions between the columns are important
possible to obtain the diffraction loads without solving and can lead to a complete annulling of the forces or to
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011

explicitly the second-order diffraction problem. large amplification up to six or seven times larger than
However, the numerical computation of this free- that acting on an isolated column.
þ
surface integral is not easy, N F and cjþ being
oscillatory with a weak attenuation in the radial
þ 4.2. Low-frequency wave load and its approximation
direction. In addition N F contains double derivatives
of the first-order velocity potential which are difficult The second-order low-frequency wave load takes place
to evaluate directly with a sufficient precision, parti- at the frequency equal to the difference of wave
cularly, in the vicinity of the waterline. These frequencies (oj7ok). In a similar way, we work in
difficulties were overcome in Chen (1988) by dividing bichromatic waves in which the first-order quantities
the free-surface plane into two domains, limited by a are written as X ¼ <faj0 xj eioj t þ ak0 xk eiok t g and
circle of radius RT. In the interior domain, the integral E ¼ <faj0 Zj eioj t þ ak0 Zk eiok t g. The loads can be de-
is transformed into another surface integral and a composed into a part depending only on the first-order
waterline integral and a line integral along the border quantities and another on the second-order potential.
which have no double derivatives any more. In the Thus, we may write:
outer domain, the asymptotic expression of potential n o
fj, fk and cþ j are used to express the free-surface ðF ; M Þ ¼ < aj0 ak0 ðf ; m Þeiðoj ok Þt with
integral in Fresnel form and computed in an accurate
ðf ; m Þ ¼ ðf     
1 ; m1 Þ þ ðf20 ; m20 Þ þ ðf2D ; m2D Þ ð25Þ
way.
As a numerical example, the Snorre TLP is
considered. The hull is composed of four columns of in which ak0 means to take the complex conjugate of ak0 .
25 m in diameter, 37.5 m in draft and separated by 76 m This rule to denote the complex conjugate by the over
axis to axis, linked by four pontoons of square section line is applied to all first-order quantities in the
11.3 6 11.3 m2. The displacement is nearly 110 000 following.
tonnes. Second-order wave loads with sum-frequency The first part of low-frequency wave loads can be
varying from 1.4 to 2.8 rad/s have been calculated with easily obtained by the all the terms in (22). The second
the fine mesh (13 888 panels) illustrated on the left of part contributed by the incoming waves ðf 
20 ; m20 Þ is
Figure 3. First check was realised by comparing simple since the second-order incoming potential f 0Þ
numerical computations with available measurements is analytically known while the second-order diffrac-
in model basin. The results presented in Moe (1993) of tion potential which can be evaluated by Molin’s
vertical double-frequency forces on one of columns of method (1979):
Snorre TLP in both regular and irregular waves are ZZ   
shown on Figure 3 with the values of 2o in rad/s as @f0  
ðf
2D ; m 
Þ
2D j ¼ iðo j  ok Þr ds  N H cj
abscissa. The numerical results in N/m2 are globally in @n
ZHZ
good agreement with measurements. r
þ iðoj  ok Þ ds N  
F cj ð26Þ
The second-order double-frequency forces in surge g F
are presented on Figure 4 with the real part on the left
and the imaginary part on the right. The results include where c j is the additional radiation potential at

the loads on Snorre TLP (squares) in deepwater on the (oj7ok). The non-homogeneous terms are given N H

one hand, and those (solid line) applied on the upper on the hull and N F on the free surface depending on
half part of four vertical columns of 65 m in height the first-order quantities.
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering 133

Figure 3. Mesh of Snorre TLP (left) and the second-order vertical forces Fz on one of TLP columns (right).
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011

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 first-
order 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 diffraction wave
pressure. Thus, we may write the j th component of
QTF:
F
j ðoj ; ok Þ ¼ F21 þ F20 þ F2H þ ðF2F Þ ð27Þ
Furthermore, the QTF F j ðoj ; ok Þ is assumed to be
regular function of (oj,ok) and a Taylor expansion
with respect to Do ¼ (oj7ok) can be developed:
2
F
j ðoj ; ok Þ ¼ F0 ðoj Þ þ F1 ðoj ÞDo þ F2 ðoj ÞðDoÞ =2 þ   
The analysis in Chen (1994) shows that the free-
surface Haskind integral F2F is of order O[(Do)2] or
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 qualified as the zeroth-order approxima-
tion. Furthermore, the numerical results presented in
Chen (1994) using the first-order approximation are in
good agreement with experimental measurements on
the N’Kossa FPSO while the wave loads based on
Newman’s 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) confirms that the zeroth-order ap-
proximation is poor as the waterdepth is below 100 m.
It is further recognised that the approximation,
including the effects of the second-order incoming
wave potential, and its diffraction by the body, but not
the part resulting from the second-order forcing on the
free surface, gives much better results.
 134 X. Chen

0.0362
0.0000

0.0753
0.1179
0.1650
0.2176
0.2773
0.3458
0.4259
0.5208
0.6354
To show the relative value of different compo-

FT
nents, we consider a vertical cylinder of radius R and
height h ¼ 5R standing on the seabed. The results
for kj0 R ¼ 0:3 and Dk ¼ ðkj0  kk0 Þ=kj0 varying from 0

0.0000
0.0000

0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
70.0001
70.0001
70.0001
0.0000
0.0002
F2F
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 first
part F21 while (F20,F2H,F2F) are those of second-

0.0224
0.0000

0.0465
0.0726
0.1012
0.1329
0.1684
0.2088
0.2555
0.3101
0.3753
F2H
order incoming wave pressure, Haskind hull integral
and Haskind free-surface integral, respectively. The

Imaginary part
column FT is the sum of all components. The real

0.0224
0.0000

0.0465
0.0725
0.1009
0.1323
0.1673
0.2070
part is tabulated on the left half and the imaginary

0.2526
0.3057
0.3687
F20
part on the right half.
All components are divided by the value of
(2rgRaj0 ak0 ). The waterline integral and the hull integral
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70.0087
0.0000

70.0178
70.0272
70.0371
70.0475
70.0584
70.0699
70.0821
70.0951
70.1088
have opposite sign and their sum is dominant for the

F21
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

0.0000
70.0255
70.0510
70.0766
70.1022
70.1277
70.1531
70.1784
70.2035
70.2285
70.2533
part, the negligible value of the Haskind integral on the

F
free surface confirms the analysis on the order with
respect to Do. The values of F20 and F2H are very close

Low-frequency wave loads in surge at kj0 R ¼ 0:3 on a standing cylinder of height h ¼ 5R.
and have the same sign. This set of results show again
that the zeroth-order approximation is far from

0.0000
0.0168
0.0333
0.0494
0.0651
0.0802
0.0947
0.1085
0.1214
0.1335
0.1445
FH
enough while the first-order approximation is excellent
for QTFs of low-frequency wave loads.

0.0997
0.0941
0.0887
0.0836
0.0788
0.0742
0.0698
0.0654
0.0610
0.0562
0.0509
FT

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

formulations
In the particular case of ok ¼ oj, the low-frequency
0.0000
0.0000
0.0001
0.0002
0.0003
0.0005
0.0007
0.0010
0.0012
0.0014
0.0015
F2F

wave loads reduce to constant drift loads which are

contributed only by the first part. The formulation (22)
is called as the near-field one as it needs the evaluation
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
70.0001
70.0002
70.0004
70.0007
70.0013
70.0022
70.0036
70.0057
of first-order wave field around the hull and along the
F2H

waterline, as well as the first-order motions. Another

formulation base on the momentum theorem for the
horizontal drift forces has been developed by Maruo
Real part

(1960) and extended to the moment around the vertical

0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
F20

axis by Newman (1967). This formulation involving

first-order wave field in the far field is often called far-
field formulation and preferable in practice thanks to
0.0997
0.0940
0.0886
0.0835
0.0787
0.0741
0.0698
0.0657
0.0620
0.0584
0.0551

its better convergence and stability. Since the starting

F21

points of the two formulations are so distinct that their

appearances are very different especially for floating
bodies, additional terms associated with body’s motion
0.1195
0.1115
0.1040
0.0969
0.0902
0.0840
0.0783
0.0730
0.0680
0.0635
0.0594
F

appear in the near-field formulation while the far-field

formulation keeps the same form without explicitly
involving body’s motions. The connection between
70.0198
70.0175
70.0153
70.0134
70.0116
70.0100
70.0085
70.0072
70.0061
70.0051
70.0042

both formulations is a bit intriguing.

FH

Very recently, an interesting analysis on the

classical near-field formulation (22) has been realised
Table 1.

in Chen (2006), based on the use of two extended

Stokes’s theorems. This analysis shows a new near-field
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
0.50
Dk

formulation:
-
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering 135
I
rg I ZZ
F1 ¼  d‘½E 2 n  2EðXnÞk roj ok j k r  k  yf
 kÞ
2  M
1z ¼ d‘ f f n6 þ ds½fjn ðxf y x
ZZ 2g c 2 C
r
þ ds½ðrFrFÞn þ 2rFt ðbfXnÞ ð28aÞ þf k ðxfj  yfj Þ  rfj rf  k n6  þ ðoj  ok ÞdM
2 H n y x 1z
I
rg ð29cÞ
M1 ¼  d‘½E 2 ðr ^ nÞ  2EðXnÞðr ^ kÞ
2 
ZZ
r with the additional terms ðdF  
þ ds½ðrFrFÞðr ^ nÞ þ 2ðr ^ rFt ÞðXnÞ 1x ; dF1y ; dM1z Þ given by:
2 H ZZ
 r  k =oj  f  k fj =ok 
ð28bÞ dF1x ¼ ds½fjn f x n x
2 H
ZZ
which is essentially similar to (22) with some slight r  k  ok f  k fj  ð30aÞ
 ds½oj fj f x x
improvements such as all terms with body motion 2g F
(T,R) disappear and the term involving the displace- ZZ
 r  k =oj  f  k fj =ok 
ment in the waterline integral gives a contribution only dF1y ¼ ds½fjn f
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011

y n y
to the vertical components. 2 H
ZZ
Now we consider a domain D surrounded by r  k  ok f  k fj 
 ds½oj fj f y y ð30bÞ
S ¼ H [ C [ F with the body hull H at its mean 2g F
position, a fictitious (control) surface C surrounding ZZ
r  k yf  k Þ=oj  f  k ðxfj yfj Þ=ok 
the body and the mean free surface F limited by the dM 1z ¼ ds½fjn ðxf y x n y x
intersection  of H with z ¼ 0 and that c of C with 2
ZHZ
z ¼ 0. In D, the application of Green’s theorem gives r  k yf  k Þok f  k ðxfj yfj Þ
 ds½oj fj ðxf y x y x
another new formulation which is absolutely general as 2g F
it can apply to the high-frequency loads as well as the ð30cÞ
low-frequency loads, to horizontal load components as
well as vertical load components. The control surface
C can be at a finite distance from the body or one The formulations (29–30) provide, for the first
pushed to infinity. In the first case, C may be pushed time, an original way to evaluate the horizontal
back to H while in the second case, C may be components of low-frequency wave loads.
composed of the surface of a vertical cylinder plus In regular waves, the formulation (29) reduces to
the seabed. Furthermore, in the case of multiple the first two integrals on the control surface since
bodies, the control surface C can be one surrounding oj ¼ ok. The low-frequency loads by (29) becomes the
an individual body and it gives the wave loads applied drift loads. If the control surface C goes to coincide
on the surrounded body. with H, we find the same result as that in Molin and
An interesting feature of the new formulation Hairault (1983) which is based on the use of
concerns the low-frequency wave load for which the momentum theorem. On the opposite side to put the
formulation is simplified. It can be easily checked that control surface C to infinity, (29) is in agreement with
the values of the hull integral and of the first term in those by Maruo (1960) and Newman (1967). On the
the free-surface integral are of order O(oj 7 ok). surface C at infinity, asymptotic expressions of
Furthermore, the waterline integral as well as the the first-order potential can be used to simplify further
second term in the free-surface integral contribute only the formulation to the single integrals involving the
to the vertical loads including the vertical force F 1z and Fourier polar variable.
moments around the horizontal axis ðM 
1x ; M1y Þ. Thus, In practice, we can put the control surface at a
the horizontal components ðF  
1x ; F1y ; M1z Þ of low- distance from the body where the wave field is not
frequency loads can be expressed as: much affected by the degree of accuracy in the
I ZZ description of hull geometry. The distance may not
roj ok j k r k þ f k fj
F1x ¼ d‘f f n 1 þ ds½fjn f x n x
be very far. In general, a distance equal to the size of
2g c 2 C several panels is enough. Furthermore, the form of the
 rfj rf  k n1  þ ðoj  ok ÞdF ð29aÞ control surface is arbitrary and a parallelepiped surface
1x
is the most convenient. The formulation (29) of
horizontal components of low-frequency wave loads
I ZZ
roj ok j k r k þ f
 k fj can be called as the middle-field formulations which
F
1y ¼ d‘f f n2 þ ds½fjn fy n y has the same virtue as the far-field formulation to have
2g c 2 C
 k n2  þ ðoj  ok ÞdF rapid numerical convergence for horizontal drift loads,
 rfj rf 1y ð29bÞ
and, in addition, provides the general formulation of
 136
the low-frequency wave loads including both horizon-
tal and vertical components.
Different formulations are compared for the case of
a free floating 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 ¼ 2.2R 6 2.2R 6 1.1R) are
illustrated. The drift forces FDx =ðrgRa20 =2Þ obtained
by different formulations are presented on the right
against the wavenumber (k0 R). The results of the new
near-field formulation (28) are exactly the same as
those of the classical near-field formulation (22), as
shown mathematically. The results by using the
middle-field formulation (29) are very close to those
by the classical far-field formulation, as expected.
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011
The difference between the near-field formulation
and the middle-field formulation is considered to be
associated with the mesh fineness.
Figure 5. Mesh of hemisphere and control surface (left) and drift loads FDx from different formulations (right).
Figure 6. Mesh of elliptical cylinder & control surface (left) and drift loads FDy for b ¼ 158 (right).
X. Chen
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 =ðrgAa20 =2Þ in an oblique
wave (heading b ¼ 158) obtained by using the near-
field formulation, middle-field formulation and far-
field formulation are presented. Different meshes
composed of 400, 800, 1600 and 2400 panels on one
quarter of the hull are used. The results using the near-
field formulation seem not convergent while those
from the middle-field and far-field formulations are
very close to each other and not appreciabley different
from the results using the finest mesh of 2400 panels
(not present in the figure as they are coincided with the
results using the mesh of 400 panels). This example
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering 137

shows that the middle-field formulation is superior to ZZ

the near-field formulation, and provides a robust and 2psm
j þ ds sm
j Gn
efficient way to evaluate the second-order wave loads. H
 ð31cÞ
nj P  H m
¼ for j ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; 6
0 otherwise
5. Multi-body interactions
In recent offshore applications, the multi-body inter- with H the union of all bodies’ hulls. The total velocity
action becomes more and more a critical issue for potential of wave field is then:
certain complex mooring systems and offloading ZZ !
operations. The interaction of multiple bodies includes X M X 6
f¼ ds io am m
j sj þ a0 s7 G
the mechanical and hydrodynamic interactions. The H m¼1 j¼1
mechanical interaction is defined by the mechanical ZZ
properties of the connection between bodies which þ a0 f0 also fm
j ¼ ds sm
j G ð31dÞ
depend only on the design and operation procedure. H

The hydrodynamic interaction is more complex and

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requires a complete solution taking account of full which is a direct extension of (16) for a single floating
interaction between multiple bodies. In some cases body.
such as side-by-side vessels, the hydrodynamic inter- A few publications have been released recently on
action may annul any motion in the confined zone at the resonant motion of wave field in the confined zone
some wave frequencies, or create violent kinematics of between two floating bodies. Unlike the resonant
wave field at other wave frequencies. Particular response of body’s motion associated with the balance
attention to this resonant phenomena is paid and of inertia and stiffness loads, this resonant kinematics
new method based on the notion of fairly perfect fluid of fluid is due to the hydrodynamic interaction - wave
is developed to take into account the damping kinematics annulled or amplified by the complex
mechanism in fluid. scattering between bodies. Within the framework of
The motion equation for multiple bodies (M being the classical linear potential theory, there is not any
the number of bodies) keeps the similar form as (17b) limit in predicting wave elevations at the free surface
with only slight changes: while the resonant motion in the reality must be largely
damped by different mechanisms of dissipation. This
X
M X
6 
unrealistic fluid motion magnifies the wave loads on
 o2 ðdnm Mnm nm nm
kj þ Akj Þ  ioBkj
m¼1 j¼1
the bodies. To hold the wave motion back to a realistic

0nm m level, Buchner et al. (2001) developed a method
þ dnm Cnm n
kj þ Ckj aj ¼ Fk ð31aÞ consisting to placing a lid on the gap in between the
two bodies. The unrealistic wave kinematics is then
for n ¼ 1, 2, . . . ,M and k ¼ 1, 2, . . . , 6. In (31a), dnm suppressed. In fact, no wavy elevation is possible under
is the Kroneker symbol while Mmm mm
kj and Ckj are the the rigid lid and noticeable perturbation around the
inertia and hydrostatic matrices of the m th body. The ends of the lid due to the diffraction effect can be
0
term Ckjnm is the stiffness due to mooring systems of m observed. To make wavy motion allowable on the lid,
th body to the earth (n ¼ m) or of m th body to n th Newman (2004) renders the lid flexible using a set of
body (n6¼m). Similar to (17a), the matrices Anm kj and basis functions of Chebychev polynomials. The defor-
Bnm
kj , and the first-order wave loads F n
k are given by: mation of the flexible mat (equal to the free-surface
ZZ elevation) is then reduced by introducing a damping
o2 Anm nm
kj þ ioBkj ¼ ioðio  mÞr ds fmj nk and coefficient.
ZZ
Hn Unlike above methods using an artificial lid, we
apply directly the authentic equations, presented in the
Fnk ¼ ðio  mÞra0 ds ðf0 þ f7 Þnk
Hn Section 2, of the fairly perfect fluid involving already
ð31bÞ the energy dissipation via introducing the damping
force. In the most cases presented foregoing, the
with Hn the hull of the n th body. The diffraction damping coefficient m is set to be zero without any
potential f7 is obtained by the same equations while effect to the results. However, this damping term must
the radiation potentials, fm m
j satisfying @fj =@n ¼ nj on play an important role in predicting the wave field
m
the hull of the mth body and @fj =@n ¼ 0 on the hull of within the confined zone. The boundary condition (6b)
other bodies, are associated with the source distribu- on the free surface is reported here:
tions sm
j which are accordingly obtained by the integral
equations : fz  k0 f  i 2 k0 f ¼ 0 for P  Fðz ¼ 0Þ ð32Þ
 138 X. Chen

with e ¼ m/o by comparing to (6b).R RThe free-surface elevation is measured at the centre of the gap. The
integral (12b) becomes IF ¼ 7i e k0 F fGds model tests were realised in Océanide and reported by
Following the same analysis as that in the Section Rippol (2004). The results of numerical computation
3.2, we can write: with two values of parameter e ¼ 0 and 0.016 are
ZZ drawn on the right together with those of measure-
fðPÞ ¼ ds sðQÞGðP; QÞ with S ¼ H [ F0 [ F ments, against the wave frequency (rad/s). Large free-
S surface elevations are remarkable at three wave
ð33Þ frequencies. The results with e ¼ 0 (no damping) are
much larger than those measured while the results with
and the integral equations to determine the source e ¼ 0.016 agree well with the measurements. By
distribution s are: comparison between the curves of numerical results
ZZ corresponding to e ¼ 0 and 0.016, we see that the
2psðPÞ þ ds sðQÞGn ðP; QÞ ¼ vn P  H ð34aÞ damping affects only the values in the range of
S frequencies around one where large elevations occur,
ZZ as expected.
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4psðPÞ  ds sðQÞGn ðP; QÞ ¼ 0 P  F0 ð34bÞ
S placed side-by-side with a barge, presented in
ZZ
4psðPÞ þ i 2 k0 ds sðQÞGðP; QÞ ¼ 0 PF
S beam waves with the two separation distances
ð34cÞ
where s ¼ 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 ¼ 0 if e ¼ 0 from (34c).
As we need to apply a non-zero value of e only in the
zone where the fluid 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 first example concerns 2 side-by-side barges of
the same dimension in meter (L 6 B 6 T ¼ 2.47 6
0.6 60.18) with mechanical properties (zG ¼ 0.02 and
gyration radii ¼ 0.187/0.527/0.527) free floating 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
The second example is the case of a Wigley hull
Kashiwagi (2004). Both vessels are of dimension
in meter (L 6 B 6 T ¼ 2 6 0.3 60.125) and set in
(S1 ¼ 1.097 and S2 ¼ 1.797) between two centrelines
of the vessels.
The case of S1 ¼ 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 ¼ 0 (no damping) and e ¼ 0.016 are applied.
On the right of the figure, 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 fixed during model
tests. The middle-field formulation is used and the
results are found to be quite close to those by the near-
field formulation. The comparison of drift loads is
presented on Figure 9. The sway drift forces
FDy ðrgLa20 =2Þ on the Wigley hull and on the barge

Figure 7. Mesh of 2 side-by-side barges and damping zone (left) and wave elevation in the gap centre (right).
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering 139

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-field formulation are in good agree-
ment with measurements, except those around k0 L/
2  4.71 where large values appear. The curves (solid
lines) with e ¼ 0.016 are very close to those (dot-
dashed lines) of e ¼ 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 effect on the strong interaction
between two vessels, and the utility of the small
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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 effect of the Wigley hull on the
weather side. At the limit of infinity frequency, the drift
forces on the barge should be nil while those on the
Wigley hull tend to the value ðrgLa20 =2Þ when it stands
alone in beam waves.
6. Effect of liquid motion in tanks
The full account of liquid motion in tanks such as
sloshing effect is difficult due to the non-linearity of the

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
phenomena and a time-domain solution of coupling is
necessary as presented in Malenica et al. (2003). It is
assumed that the major effect to vessel’s 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 effect 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 ¼ 908).
 140
and can be taken into account just by introducing
0 0 0
negative values for the non-zero terms ðC44 ; C45 ; C55 Þ
of stiffness 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 modified as:
X
6
½o2 ðMkj þ Akj þ A0kj Þ  ioðBkj þ B0kj Þ
j¼1
þ Ckj þ C0kj aj ¼ Fk ð35Þ
for k ¼ 1, 2, . . . ,6 and the inertia matrix Mkj
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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 ¼ 0 in this case.
The linear velocity potential due to forcing oscilla-
tions 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 first
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 ¼ f03 þ j3 possesses an additional solu-
tion j3 ¼ 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. Mesh of LNG carrier and two tanks (left) and sway RAOs in beam sea (b ¼ 2708) (right).
X. Chen
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 ¼ 0) is introduced. The introduction of
damping (e 6¼ 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 fre-
quency. This variation of inertia modifies the roll
response of the barge. Instead of one peak without
dynamic effect 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 amplified when the excitation frequency is close
to but smaller than the first 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 infinity 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 stiffness 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 ¼ 47.18 6 39.1) and the tank no. 4 of
size (L 6 B ¼ 41.4 6 39.1) with a filling 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.
Different sets of model tests in irregular waves
varying significant 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
 The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering
Figure 11. Heave RAOs (left) and roll RAOs (right) in beam sea (b ¼ 2708).
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 18:07 21 December 2011
with e ¼ 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
significant difference between the results with e ¼ 0
and those with e ¼ 0.02 except the peak values of sway
and roll are slightly smaller for e ¼ 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 computa-
tion coincides with that of measurements, but also the
values of peaks in two sets of results are in excellent
agreement.
7. Discussion and conclusion
We have presented our recent research and develop-
ments in the hydrodynamic domain and the offshore
applications. It consists essentially of the theoretical
and numerical work based on the first-order and
second-order theory of potential flow in the frequency
domain.
Adopting the notion of fairly perfect fluid, 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 body’s hull can be modified as
well to include a partial reflection equivalent to energy
dissipation in boundary layer. The new integral
equations are established following these modifica-
tions. The applications to the side-by-side multibody
interaction and to the liquid motion in tanks show its
soundness and efficiency. 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 approxima-
tion to the dissipation mechanism – an important and
complex aspect of fluid mechanics. The involved
141
parameters need to be determined by comparing to
experimental measurements or results of elaborated
CFD simulations.
Important work has been realised in the formula-
tion and numerical computation of the second-order
wave loads including the high-frequency and low-
frequency components. New formulations have been
developed owing to the analyse work in Chen (2006).
Especially, the connection between the near-field and
far-field formulations for the drift load, and the
middle-field formulation for the low-frequency wave
load are very interesting. Unlike the near-field for-
mulation which is known for its poor numerical
convergence, and the far-field formulation which
provides only the sum of drift loads on all bodies,
the middle-field formulation has the same virtue as the
far-field formulation to have rapid convergence and
gives access to the drift load on each individual body.
Furthermore, the middle-field 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 VeriS-
TAR-Offshore of Bureau Veritas. It has benefited from
continuous elaborations, inspirations of most recent
theoretical findings and developments of efficient
numerical algorithms. The analysis on the free-surface
Green function of wave diffraction and radiation in
water of finite depth leads to the development of
powerful algorithms. The removal of irregular fre-
quencies 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 multi-
body interaction and the dynamic effect 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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