The effect of forward speed on hydrodynamic response of a containership in head waves

Hydrodynamic and hydroelastic responses of a large container ship advancing forward in head regular waves are analysed by experimental study and three-dimension (3D) linear frequency domain hydroelasticity theory. A set of model tests for a 20,000 TEU containership were carried out to investigate the ship hydroelastic characteristics in the seakeeping wave basin of CSSRC. The natural frequency and modal ship were measured and validated by a 3D finite element model. Two 3D linear frequency domain hydroelasticity theories, a pulsating source Green's function method and a translating pulsating source Green's function method were used to investigate the influence of the forward speed on hydrodynamic coefficients, motion responses and vertical bending moments at midship. Four speed cases were examined in the study. The numerical results were compared with the experimental data and good agreement was obtained. The wave-induced load linearly increases with the growth of the forward speed. The performance of the two different Green's function methods on the hydrodynamic and hydroelastic response of the large containership with different forward speed was also investigated.