Experimental and Numerical Study of Wave-Induced Load Effects of Open Ships in Oblique Seas

Open ships inherently possess low torsional rigidity because of their open deck structural configuration. Some of the structural failures for open ships are caused by wave-induced torsional moment in combination with other load components in oblique seas. Relatively few experimental results about horizontal bending and torsional moments in oblique seas have been published, however. Further, test data for vertical shear force and vertical bending moment in oblique seas are quite scarce. A backbone model has been recently tested by the Center for Ships and Ocean Structures (CeSOS) in the towing tank and ocean basin at the Marine Technology Center. The model consists of 15 box-shaped segments, in addition to bow and stern segments, which are interconnected by an aluminum beam on the top. Model tests in oblique seas without forward speed were first carried out to provide basic comparisons. Tests in head and oblique seas with speeds were then conducted in regular waves. Irregular wave tests were also carried out to assess the spectral responses and peak distributions of cross-sectional load effects. Load effects at 7 longitudinal positions were measured through strain gauges, including vertical shear force (VSF), vertical bending moment (VBM), horizontal bending moment (HBM), and torsional moment (TM). The motivation of this paper is to perform a benchmark study by comparing numerical predictions of different computer codes with these test results. The uncertainties in the experiments and the computer codes are discussed, and conclusions are presented at the end of this paper.