Numerical Simulation of Fluid Resonance in a Moonpool by Twin Rectangular Hulls with Various Configurations and Heaving Amplitudes

• Published in: Journal of Ocean University of China 2017-06, Vol.16 (3), p.422-436
• Main Authors: Jiang, Shengchao, Tang, Peng, Zou, Li, Liu, Zhen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amplitude; Computational fluid dynamics; Computer simulation; Dissipation; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Excitation; Flow pattern; Fluid flow; Flumes; Heaving; Hulls; Mathematical models; Meteorology; Oceanography; Resonance; Resonant frequencies; Resonant frequency; Turbulence; Vortices
• ISSN: 1672-5182; 1993-5021; 1672-5174
• DOI: 10.1007/s11802-017-3147-5

Fluid resonance in a moonpool formed by two identical rectangular hulls during in-phase heaving motion is investigated by employing a two-dimensional numerical wave flume based on OpenFOAM package with Re-Normalization Group（RNG） turbulent model. The focus of the study is to examine the influence of heaving frequency and amplitude with various moonpool configurations on fluid resonant behavior. It is found that the resonant frequency of wave response in moonpool tends to decrease with the increase of moonpool breadth and hulls draft. The decrease of resonant amplitude can be observed for large moonpool breadth. The influence of hulls draft on resonant amplitude is not remarkable, especially for large heaving amplitude. The increase in heaving amplitude results in the decrease of relative resonant amplitude in an approximate power function, implying a complicated dependence of the resonant amplitude on heaving amplitude. Flow patterns in the vicinity of the moonpool are also analyzed, mainly regarding the dependence on the heaving frequency. The negligible influence of vortices on the wave response in moonpool is expected for low-frequency excitation because it is hard to observe the vortex structures. Intensive vortical flow and vortex structure can be identified under resonant condition, which gives rise to significant dissipation and accounts for the smaller relative resonant amplitude in moonpool. As for high-frequency excitation, the vortex motion is rather weak and dissipates rapidly, leading to insignificant effect on wave response amplitude.