Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454

Hydroelastic analysis of a very large oating plate

with large deections in stochastic seaway
$
Xu-jun Chen
a,b,c,
, J. Juncher Jensen
b
, Wei-cheng Cui
c
,
Xue-feng Tang
a
a
Engineering Institute of Engineering Crops, PLA University of Science and Technology, No. 1,
Haifu Street, Nanjing 210007, China
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark,
DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
c
China Ship Scientic Research Center, Wuxi 214082, China
Received 16 February 2004; received in revised form 7 September 2004; accepted 7 December 2004
Abstract
The hydroelasticity of a very large oating plate with large deections in multidirectional
irregular waves is discussed. After a brief introduction on wave loads on a exible structure,
the paper derives the generalised uid force acting on a oating structure in multidirectional
irregular waves. The nonlinear sectional forces induced by the membrane forces in the plate
are deduced. The hydroelastic response equations of a oating plate with large deections in
multidirectional irregular waves are established, and a solution method in the frequency
domain is discussed including extreme value statistics. A very large oating structure is chosen
as an example. The numerical results show that the inuence of the membrane forces on the
vertical displacements and the bending moments is noticeable but not that large.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hydroelasticity; Floating plate; Membrane force; Irregular waves; Extreme value statistics
ARTICLE IN PRESS
www.elsevier.com/locate/marstruc
0951-8339/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.marstruc.2004.12.001
$
The project was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.
50039010, 50309018) and the Danish Rectors Conference.

Corresponding author. Engineering Institute of Engineering Crops, PLA University of Science and
Technology, No. 1, Haifu Street, Nanjing 210007, China. Tel.:/fax: +86 25 84873355.
E-mail address: xjchen@sjtu.edu.cn (X.-j. Chen).
1. Introduction
Hydroelastic theories have been applied to the design and research works related to
marine structures for several decades. Very large oating structures (VLFSs) require a
hydroelastic analysis due to their large size [14]. Whereas both linear and nonlinear
wave loads have been considered, nonlinear structural characteristics have generally
not been included. However, as the maximum vertical displacement of a pontoon type
very large oating structure may be larger than 1 m, the authors of this paper studied
the hydroelasticity of a plate in multidirectional regular waves [5], where the membrane
forces were taken into account. The numerical results showed that the membrane
contribution both in terms of axial stresses and its effect on the bending stresses can be
important. The paper was restricted to a bi-chromatic regular wave system considering
only the sum-frequency contributions. In the present paper, the hydroelastic response
equations of a oating plate with large deections in multidirectional irregular waves
are established and a solution method in the frequency domain is discussed. The
nonlinear principal coordinates and their resonant characteristics are presented and
extreme value statistics taking into account the kurtosis of the response are included.
2. Wave potential theory around a exible oating structure
2.1. Decomposition of the velocity potential and the pressure
The uid around a moored exible oating body is assumed to be ideal (i.e.,
uniform, continuous, inviscid, incompressible and irrotational). Hence, the uid
behaviour can be modeled by a velocity potential. Two coordinate systems are
introduced, namely a global equilibrium system Oxyz, and a body-xed coordinate
system O
0
x
0
y
0
z
0
: The origin of the Oxyz-system is at the point of intersection of the
still water surface and the vertical line which goes through the gravity centre of the
structure, and the Oz-axis is upward. The O
0
x
0
y
0
z
0
-system is xed in the oating body.
The unsteady velocity potential fx; y; z; t around a zero-forward speed oating
structure in the equilibrium frame may be decomposed into the standard form (e.g., [6])
fx; y; z; t f
I
f
D

m
r1
f
r
, (1)
where f
I
x; y; z; t; f
D
x; y; z; t and f
r
x; y; z; t denote the incident wave potential, the
diffraction wave potential, and the radiation wave potential arising from the responses
of the exible body. In the frequency domain, the rst-order unsteady velocity potential
and the principal coordinates p
r
t may be further expressed as
fx; y; z; t Re j
I
o j
D
o

m
r1
j
r
op
r
o
_ _
e
iot
_ _
, (2)
p
r
t Refp
r
oe
iot
g, (3)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 436
where o is the wave circular frequency; j
I
x; y; z; o and j
D
x; y; z; o are the
components of the incident wave velocity potential and the diffraction wave potential,
respectively; j
r
x; y; z; o r 1; . . . ; m are the components of the radiation wave
potential arising from the vibration in the rth principal dry mode of the exible body,
with unit amplitude and frequency o: The potentials j
D
x; y; z; o and j
r
x; y; z; o are
calculated using the Green function method [7]. p
r
(o) is the complex amplitude of the
principal coordinate. The sign Re{ } in Eqs. (2) and (3) denotes the real part of the
complex in { }.
The governing equations of the uid are the Laplace equation and the Bernoulli
equation. In the equilibrium coordinate system, they may be expressed as
r
2
fx; y; z; t 0, (4)
px; y; z; t
r
gz
v
*
v
*
2

qf
qt
0. (5)
v
*
x; y; z; t; px; y; z; t and r in Eq. (5) are respectively the velocity vector, the
pressure and the density of the uid. Finally, g is the acceleration of gravity.
The uid pressure acting on the mean wetted surface S during the motion and
distortion of the body is given by the Bernoulli equation in the equilibrium system
px; y; z; tj
S
r
qf
qt

rf rf
2
gz
_ _
S
. (6)
The generalised forces acting on the oating structure associated with the model can
be expressed as
Z
r
t
__
S
n
*
u
*
0
r
p dS. (7)
Here, u
*
0
r
u
0
r
; v
0
r
; w
0
r

T
; r 1; 2; . . . ; m is a set of orthogonal functions taken here
as the dry modes of the plates and n
*
is the normal vector of the wetted surface of the
structure. In linear theory of hydroelasticity (e.g., [6,8]), n
*
is taken to be independent
of the motion. Thus, substitution of Eqs. (1) and (6) into Eq. (7) yields
Z
r
t Z
0
r
Z
1
r
t, (8)
where Z
0
r
and Z
1
r
t are the generalised constant and rst-order forces, respectively.
The constant forces are
Z
0
r
r
__
S
n
*
u
*
0
r
gz dS, (9)
and provide the generalised steady state buoyancy forces.
The generalised rst-order forces may be written as
Z
1
r
t E
1
r
t D
1
r
t R
1
r
t, (10)
with
E
1
r
t r
__
S
n
*
u
*
0
r
q
qt
f
I
t f
D
t dS, (11)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 437
D
1
r
t

m
k1
r
__
S
n
*
u
*
0
r
q
qt
f
k
t dS, (12)
R
1
r
t r
__
S
n
*
u
*
0
r
gwdS, (13)
where E
1
r
t; H
1
r
t and R
1
r
t are the generalised rst-order wave exciting forces,
radiation forces and restoring forces. w is the vertical displacement of the oating
structure.
2.2. The generalised uid forces in nonuniform waves
Assume that the nonuniform incident waves consist of multidirectional irregular
waves, then
f
I
t

I
i1

J
i
j1
gz
ji
o
ji
e
k
ji
z
sink
ji
x cos b
i
y sin b
i
o
ji
t
ji
, (14)
where I is the number of direction of the nonuniform incident waves and b
i
is the ith
incident wave angle. The ith incident irregular waves are composed of J
i
regular
waves with the wave elevation z
ji
; the wave circular frequency o
ji
; the wave number
k
ji
and the phase angle
ji
:
Eq. (14) can also be expressed shortly as
f
I
t

N
j1
gz
j
o
j
e
k
j
z
sink
j
x cos b
j
y sin b
j
o
j
t
j
, (15)
where
N

I
i1
J
i
(16)
is the total number of regular waves in the ow eld. z
j
; o
j
; k
j
;
j
and b
j
are the wave
elevation, the wave circular frequency, the wave number, the phase angle and the
incident wave angle of the jth regular wave of the nonuniform waves.
By use of Eq. (15), the rst-order wave potentials and the principal coordinates
may be expressed as
f
I
x; y; z; t Re

N
j1
z
j
j
I
o
j
e
io
j
t
j

_ _
, (17)
f
D
x; y; z; t Re

N
j1
z
j
j
D
o
j
e
io
j
t
j

_ _
, (18)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 438
p
k
t Re

N
j1
z
j
p
k
o
j
e
io
j
t
j

_ _
, (19)
f
k
x; y; z; t Re

N
j1
z
j
p
k
o
j
j
k
o
j
e
io
j
t
j

_ _
. (20)
Substituting Eqs. (17) and (18) into Eq. (11) gives the generalised rst-order wave
exciting forces
E
1
r
t Re

N
j1
z
j
x
r
o
j
e
io
j
t
j

_ _
, (21)
where x
r
o
j
; the coefcients of the generalised rst-order wave exciting forces, can
be expressed as
x
r
o
j
r
__

S
n
*
u
*
0
r
io
j
j
I
o
j
j
D
o
j
dS. (22)
By substitution of Eq. (20) into Eq. (12) the rst-order radiation forces are
obtained:
D
1
r
t Re

m
k1

N
j1
z
j
o
2
j
A
rk
o
j
io
j
B
rk
o
j
p
k
o
j
e
io
j
t
j

_ _
, (23)
where A
rk
o
j
and B
rk
o
j
are coefcients of added mass and added damping dened
as
A
rk
o
1
o
2
Re
ir
__

S
n
*
u
*
0
r
oj
k
o dS
_ _
:
B
rk
o
i
o
Im
(24)
For a linear structure, the displacement of the structure can be expressed as
~ut ut; vt; wt

m
r1
u
*
0
r
p
r
t. (25)
By substitution of Eqs. (19) and (25) into Eq. (13) the generalised rst-order
restoring forces are obtained
R
1
r
t Re

m
k1
C
rk

N
j1
z
j
p
k
o e
io
j
t
j

_ _
, (26)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 439
where C
rk
denotes the frequency independent coefcients of the generalised rst-
order forces expressed as
C
rk
r
__

S
n
*
u
*
0
r
gw
0
k
dS, (27)
where w
0
k
is the kth vertical dry mode of the structure.
3. Equations of motion and solution methods
Based on the formulation of the generalised uid forces acting on a three-
dimensional exible oating body, the equations of motion for solving the principal
coordinates p
s
t may be represented as [9]

m
s1
a
rs
A
rs
p
s
t b
rs
B
rs
_ p
s
t c
rs
C
rs
p
s
t
E
1
r
t Z
0
r
Q
r
; r 1; 2; . . . ; m, 28
where a
rs
; b
rs
and c
rs
are the elements of the generalised mass matrix, the generalised
damping matrix and the generalised stiffness matrix of the structure, respectively.
These elements can together with the modes u
*
0
r
be obtained by a structural analysis
program. Finally, Q
r
denotes the generalised gravity forces.
According to the nonlinear von Karman plate equations (see e.g., [10]) and by
omitting the gravity and static buoyancy forces, the hydroelastic equations for a
uniform oating plate with large deections can be written

m
v
s1
a
rs
A
rs
p
s
t b
rs
B
rs
_ p
s
t c
rs
C
rs
p
s
t
E
1
r
t H
s
r
t; r 1; 2; . . . ; m
v
, 29
where m
v
is the total number of vertical displacement modes of the oating plate.
The extra term H
s
r
t on the right-hand side of Eq. (29) compared to Eq. (28)
denotes the generalised nonlinear forces induced by the membrane forces in the plate
[5] and will be discussed in the next section. Obviously, this term is a function of the
principal coordinates p
s
t:
By including only the leading nonlinear term, Eq. (29) can be solved in the
frequency domain. The solution of Eq. (29) can be expressed as
p
s
t

N
j1
z
j
p
1
s
o
j
e
io
j
t
j

1
4

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
p
s
s
o

ijk
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 440

1
4

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
p
s
s
o

ijk
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

1
4

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
p
s
s
o

ijk
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

1
4

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
p
s
s
o

ijk
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

, 30
where
o

ijk
o
i
o
j
o
k
;
o

ijk
o
i
o
j
o
k
;
o

ijk
o
i
o
j
o
k
;
o

ijk
o
i
o
j
o
k
;
_

_
and

ijk

i

j

k
;

ijk

i

j

k
;

ijk

i

j

k
;

ijk

i

j

k
:
_

_
(31)
Furthermore, p
1
s
o
j
denotes the rst-order principal coordinates induced by the
generalised rst-order wave exciting forces. Only linear wave exciting forces are
considered and thus second and high order exciting forces are neglected.
The second to fth terms on the right-hand side of Eq. (30) are nonlinear
contributions from the membrane forces. This will be discussed in the next section.
4. Generalised nonlinear force and contribution from the membrane forces
The nonlinear force vector induced by the large deections dealt with in the von
Karman plate theory is dened as (see e.g., [10])
Ht
q
2
Ft
qy
2
q
2
wt
qx
2

q
2
Ft
qx
2
q
2
wt
qy
2
2
q
2
Ft
qxqy
q
2
wt
qxqy
, (32)
where wt is the vertical displacement of the plate, it can be the linear, the nonlinear
or the combined one. Ft is the Airy stress function for the membrane stresses in the
plate, satisfying
J
x
q
4
Ft
qx
4
2J
xy
q
4
Ft
qx
2
qy
2
J
y
q
4
Ft
qy
4

q
2
wt
qxqy
_ _
2

q
2
wt
qx
2
q
2
wt
qy
2
, (33)
with the boundary conditions
q
2
Ft
qxqy
0;
q
2
Ft
qy
2
0; at x
L
2
,
q
2
Ft
qxqy
0;
q
2
Ft
qx
2
0; at y
B
2
. (34)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 441
Here, B and L are the width and the length of the oating plate. The constants
J
x
; J
xy
; and J
y
in Eq. (33) are the membrane exibilities of the orthotropic plate.
They are given as follows:
J
x

1
E
y
h

; J
y

1
E
x
h

; 2J
xy

1
G
xy
h

n
x
J
y
n
y
J
x
. (35)
Here, h

is the equivalent plate thickness, E

x
and E
y
are the equivalent Youngs
moduli of the material, G
xy
is the equivalent shear modulus, and v
x
; v
y
are Poisson
ratio coefcients.
The rst-order complex displacements w
1
t can be calculated by
w
1
t

N
j1
z
j
wo
j
e
io
j
t
j

, (36)
where wo
j
is the complex amplitude of the displacement induced by the jth regular
wave, determined by the rst-order principal coordinate p
1
s
o
j
and the dry modes
w
0
s
of the plate
wo
j

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
1
s
o
j
. (37)
The dry modes w
0
s
can be calculated by any linear structural analysis code or, in the
present case of a uniform plate, by analytical use of the orthotropic plate stiffnesses
D
11
; D
12
and D
22
:
Obviously, w
1
t shown in Eq. (36) is represented in complex form, and its
conjugation can be expressed as
w
1
t

N
j1
z
j
wo
j
e
io
j
t
j

. (38)
Here and hereafter an over bar on a complex function or quantity represents its
conjugation.
For simplication, the following relationship is introduced
ReX ReY
1
2
ReX Y ReX

Y, (39)
where X and Y are two arbitrary chosen complex functions or quantities.
By use of Eq. (39), substitution of Eqs. (36) and (38) into the right-hand side of
Eq. (33) yields
J
x
q
4
Ft
qx
4
2J
xy
q
4
Ft
qx
2
qy
2
J
y
q
4
Ft
qy
4

1
2
Re

N
i1

N
j1
z
i
z
j
q
2
wo
i

qxqy
q
2
wo
j

qxqy

q
2
wo
i

qx
2
q
2
wo
j

qy
2
_ _
e
io

ij
t

ij

_ _

q
2
wo
i

qxqy
q
2
wo
j

qxqy

q
2
wo
i

qx
2
q
2
wo
j

qy
2
_ _
e
io

ij
t

ij

__
, 40
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 442
where
o

ij
o
i
o
j
;

ij

i

j
. (41)
Eq. (40) can be solved by means of the boundary condition (34) by using the nite
difference method [11]. The solution of Eq. (40) can be written as
Ft
1
2
Re

N
i1

N
j1
z
i
z
j
F

o
i
; o
j
e
io

ij
t

ij

F

o
i
; o
j
e
io

ij
t

ij

_ _
. (42)
By use of Eq. (39), substitution of the Eqs. (36), (38) and (42) into (32) yields
Ht
1
4
Re

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
H

o
i
; o
j
; o
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

_
H

o
i
; o
j
; o
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

H

o
i
; o
j
; o
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

H

o
i
; o
j
; o
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

_
, 43
where
H

o
i
; o
j
; o
k

q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qy
2
q
2
wo
k

qx
2

q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qx
2
q
2
wo
k

qy
2
2
q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qxqy
q
2
wo
k

qxqy
,
H

o
i
; o
j
; o
k

q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qy
2
q
2
wo
k

qx
2

q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qx
2
q
2
wo
k

qy
2
2
q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qxqy
q
2
wo
k

qxqy
,
H

o
i
; o
j
; o
k

q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qy
2
q
2
wo
k

qx
2

q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qx
2
q
2
wo
k

qy
2
2
q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qxqy
q
2
wo
k

qxqy
,
H

o
i
; o
j
; o
k

q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qy
2
q
2
wo
k

qx
2

q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qx
2
q
2
wo
k

qy
2
2
q
2
F

o
i
; o
j

qxqy
q
2
wo
k

qxqy
. 44
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 443
The generalised nonlinear forces can hence be expressed as
H
r
t
1
4
Re

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
H

r
o
i
; o
j
; o
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

_
H

r
o
i
; o
j
; o
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

H

r
o
i
; o
j
; o
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

H

r
o
i
; o
j
; o
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

_
, 45
where
H

r
o
i
; o
j
; o
k

N
p
n1
w
n
r
H
n
o
i
; o
j
; o
k
, (46)
and where w
n
r
and H
n
are the rth vertical mode and the nonlinear forces acting on
node n. N
p
is the total number of nodes included for the plate. H

r
and H
n
denotes
H

r
; H

r
; H

r
or H

r
and H
n
; H
n
; H
n
or H
n
; respectively.
With the generalised nonlinear forces induced by the membrane forces given by
Eq. (32), the following equation is solved to obtain the third-order principal
coordinates p
s
s
o

ijk
:

m
v
s1
o

ijk

2
a
rs
A
rs
io

ijk
b
rs
B
rs
c
rs
C
rs
p
s
s
o

ijk

r
o
i
; o
j
; o
k
; r 1; 2; . . . ; m
v
i; j; k 1; . . . ; N. 47
Here and hereafter superscript o

ijk
denotes o

ijk
; o

ijk
; o

ijk
or o

ijk
: The rst-order
hydrodynamic coefcients A
rs
and B
rs
are calculated by use of Eq. (24) at the
corresponding frequencies jo

ijk
j: Thus p
s
s
o

ijk
are nonlinear functions of the linear
principal coordinates p
1
s
o
j
: It should be noted that when o

ijk
0; Eq. (47)
becomes

m
v
s1
c
rs
C
rs
p
s
s
o

ijk
H

r
o
i
; o
j
; o
k
; r 1; 2; . . . ; m
v
i; j; k 1; . . . ; N.
(48)
With the expression of the total principal coordinates shown in Eq. (30), the total
displacements can be calculated by
wt Re

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
t
_ _
Re

N
j1
z
j
e
io
j
t
j

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
1
s
o
j

_ _ _

1
4

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
s
o

ijk

_ _

1
4

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
s
o

ijk

_ _
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 444

1
4

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
s
o

ijk

_ _

1
4

N
i1

N
j1

N
k1
z
i
z
j
z
k
e
io

ijk
t

ijk

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
s
o

ijk

_ __
. 49
With the displacements, all the other parameters related to the uid and the structure
can be calculated. For example, the bending moments in the plate become
M
x
D
11
q
2
wt
qx
2
n
y
q
2
wt
qy
2
_ _
,
M
y
D
22
q
2
wt
qy
2
n
x
q
2
wt
qx
2
_ _
,
M
xy
2D
12
q
2
wt
qxqy
_ _
. (50)
Here, D
11
; D
12
and D
22
are the orthotropic plate stiffnesses.
5. Numerical solution
5.1. Particulars of the incident waves and the oating plate
For simplicity, two identical irregular wave systems are coming from different
directions and assumed to act on a very large oating plate. The wave energy
spectrum of each system is shown in Fig. 1. Each of the irregular waves is
approximated by 17 regular waves as indicated in Fig. 1. The peak frequency of the
irregular wave is 1.12 rad/s. The signicant wave height of each irregular wave is 2 m.
The particulars of the VLFS mentioned by Sim and Choi [12] are chosen as an
example. The relevant data is shown in Table 1. The VLFS is a scaled model of the
Mega-Float constructed and developed in Yokosuka [13] and to be used close to
land in sheltered waters. In Sim and Choi [12] the bending rigidity is given to be
EI 4:77 10
11
Nm
2
: If an isotropic plate of the thickness h 2:0 m is assumed,
this bending rigidity corresponds to an equivalent Youngs modulus E 1:19
10
10
N=m
2
: As no information on the structural layout of this VLFS is given in the
open literature, the structure is assumed to be made of steel and composed of a set of
crossing webs spaced both longitudinally and transversely by 3 m. The equivalent
thickness of the webs is taken to be 12.9 mm whereas the equivalent thickness of the
bottom and top plates is taken to be 17.5 mm. The mass of local stiffening and
nonstructural items is accounted for by increasing the mass of the steel structure by
25 per cent and hence the draught of the VLFS becomes 0.5 m. The resulting
membrane stiffness Eh

corresponds to an equivalent plate thickness of approxi-

mately 0.766 m. It should be stressed that shear deformations are neglected even if
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 445
they might be just as important as the membrane effects for the present structure. A
total number of modes m 22 (3 rigid ones and 19 elastic ones) is applied.
5.2. Analysis of the nonlinear coordinates
Figs. 25 show selected nonlinear principal coordinates p
s
s
o

ijk
of the rst four
vertical bending moment modes. Resonant vibrations are seen in them, e.g. Fig. 2
(rst-order), Fig. 3 (second-order), Fig. 4 (third-order) and Fig. 5 (fourth-order). The
differences in vertical scales should be noted. The gures show for example that the
maximum principal of the fourth-order resonant vibrations (0.0000014) is far smaller
than that of the rst-order resonant vibrations (0.012). A total number of 22 modes
is found suitable for the numerical example. The wave angles are b
1
45

and
b
2
45

; respectively. The horizontal axes are integer numbers where each number
denotes a certain combination of o
i
; o
j
and o
k
satisfying o
i
o
j
o
k
constant:
This is the reason for the repetitive pattern visible in the gures as it just corresponds
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
(rad/s)
S

(

)
Fig. 1. Wave energy spectrum of the irregular waves.
Table 1
Particulars of the plate
Length L 300.0 m
Width B 60.0 m
Depth h 2.0 m
Equivalent plate thickness h

0.766 m
Draught d 0.5 m
Youngs modulus E
1:19 10
10
N=m
2
Poissons ratio v 0.13
Mass density r
b
256:25 kg=m
3
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 446
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0 200 400 600 800 1000
0.000
0.002
0.004
0.006
0.008
0.010
0.012
*
ijk
=3.12 rad/s
1st BM
2nd BM
3nd BM
4th BM
Fig. 2. First-order resonant vibration of vertical bending moment o

ijk
3:12 rad=s:
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
0.000
0.005
0.010
0.015
0.020
0.025
0.030
*
ijk
=3.32 rad/s
1st BM
2nd BM
3nd BM
4th BM
Fig. 3. Second-order resonant vibration of vertical bending moment o

ijk
3:32 rad=s:
0 50 100 150 200 250
0.00000
0.00002
0.00004
0.00006
0.00008
0.00010
0.00012
*
ijk
=5.24 rad/s
1st BM
2nd BM
3nd BM
4th BM
Fig. 4. Third-order resonant vibration of vertical bending moment o

ijk
5:24 rad=s:
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
0.0000000
0.0000002
0.0000004
0.0000006
0.0000008
0.0000010
0.0000012
0.0000014
*
ijk
=7.56 rad/s
1st BM
2nd BM
3nd BM
4th BM
Fig. 5. Fourth-order resonant vibration of vertical bending moment o

ijk
7:56 rad=s:
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 447
to interchange of the indices i, j and k. The lines drawn between the points are only
used to make the gures more readable.
The elastic resonant vibration frequencies o
w
r
in water are calculated by Eq. (51)
below [9] and the results of the rst four vertical bending moment modes are shown
in Table 2, where o
s
r6
denotes the natural frequencies of the elastic responses in air.
A
rr
o

ijk
are diagonal elements of the non-diagonal generalised added mass matrix
(in SI units).
o
2
w
r
a
rr
A
rr
o

ijk
c
rr
C
rr
0. (51)
5.3. Extreme value predictions of bending moments
As the phase angle components
j
and

ijk
in Eq. (30) are random variables, the
principal coordinates, the vertical displacements and the bending moments are all
random variables. Because a stationary sea state is considered, extreme value
predication can be performed on the basis of the theory of stationary stochastic
processes.
For a stationary stochastic process, we may set t 0 in Eq. (49) which yields
w

2N
j1
l
j
x
j

2N
i1

2N
j1

2N
k1
L
ijk
x
i
x
j
x
k
, (52)
where
l
j

Re

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
1
s
o
j

_ _
; x
j

z
j
cos
j
z
j
sin
j
_
when
jpN
j4N
_
;
Im

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
1
s
o
jN

_ _
_

_
(53)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 2
Resonant vibration frequencies
r
A
rr
o

ijk
=10
6
a
rr
=10
6
c
rr
=10
6
C
rr
=10
6
o
s
r6
=rad=s o
w
r
=rad=s
7 2.575 2.302 2.211 45.050 0.980 3.113
8 3.274 2.290 16.753 44.578 2.705 3.320
10 1.643 2.266 63.867 43.793 5.309 5.248
12 1.577 2.232 172.239 42.676 8.785 7.512
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 448
L
ijk

1
4
Re

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
_ _
;
when i; j; kpN;

1
4
Re

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
_ _
;
only one of i; j; kpN;

1
4
Im

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
_ _
;
only one of i; j; k4N;
1
4
Im

m
v
s1
w
0
s
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
p
s
s
o

i
0
j
0
k
0
_ _
;
when i; j; k4N;
_

_
(54)
where
i
0

i
i N
_
;
ipN
i4N
_
; j
0

j
j N
_
;
jpN
j4N
_
,
k
0

k
k N
_
;
kpN
k4N
_
. 55
Substitution of Eq. (52) into (50) yields
M
x

2N
j1
a
j
x
j

2N
i1

2N
j1

2N
k1
b
ijk
x
i
x
j
x
k
, (56)
where
a
j
D
11
q
2
l
j
qx
2
n
y
q
2
l
j
qy
2
_ _
, (57)
b
ijk
D
11
q
2
L
ijk
qx
2
n
y
q
2
L
ijk
qy
2
_ _
. (58)
The bending moments M
y
and M
xy
have expressions similar to Eq. (56).
The central moments Z
1
EM
x
and Z
n
EbM
x
Z
1

n
c of the bending moment
distribution can be expressed as [14]:
Z
1
0,
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 449
Z
2

2N
i1
a
i
a
i
V
i

2N
i1

2N
j1

2N
k1
9b
ijj
b
ikk
6b
ijk
b
ijk
V
i
V
j
V
k
6

2N
i1

2N
j1
a
i
b
ijj
V
i
V
j
,
Z
3
0,
Z
4
3Z
2
2
24

2N
i1

2N
j1

2N
k1
a
i
a
j
a
k
b
ijk
V
i
V
j
V
k
, (59)
where
V
i
Ex
i
x
i
So
i
Do
i
(60)
is the variance of x
i
[15]. The statistics of the bending moments can be calculated by
use of a GramCharlier expansion [14]. However, a simple cubic approximation

M
x
for M
x

M
x
c
1
U c
3
U
3
, (61)
where c
1
and c
3
are determined so that
E

M
2
x
EM
2
x
Z
2
,
E

M
4
x
EM
4
x
Z
4
, (62)
taking U to be a standard normal distribution variable is usually preferred. The
reason is that the GramCharlier series often yields negative probability densities in
the tail of the distribution. As the wave process is rather narrow-banded the peak
values of U can be assumed to follow a Rayleigh distribution, and thus the most
probable largest peak of U among N
z
peaks becomes

2 ln N
z
p
:
For the nonlinear distribution of M
x
considered in the present paper, the most
probable largest bending moment during a nite time t N
z
T
z
then becomes
M
e
x
c
1

2 ln N
z
_
c
3

2 ln N
z
_

3
, (63)
where T
z
is the zero-upcrossing period. The coefcients c
1
and c
3
in Eq. (63) can be
determined from the following nonlinear equations [16]:
Z
2
c
2
1
6c
1
c
3
15c
2
3
,
Z
4
3c
4
1
10395c
4
3
630c
2
1
c
2
3
3780c
1
c
3
3
60c
3
1
c
3
. (64)
Based on the theory shown in Eqs. (51)(64), the predicted most probable extreme
values of bending moments at 11 selected points for an operational period of 120
years (the grid of the plate and the coordinates of the points are shown in Fig. 6 and
Table 3) are calculated and some results are given in Figs. 712. The wave angles are
b
1
45

; b
2
45

and b
1
45

; b
2
135

; respectively.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 450
From the gures and the numerical results it is seen that
(a) The membrane forces have a small, but different inuence on the bending
moments of different points.
(b) Wave angles have an inuence on the predicted extreme values. For b
1

45

; b
2
135

; the maximum nonlinear effects on the extreme bending moments

M
e
x
; M
e
y
and M
e
xy
for a period of 20 years are 0:02%; 1:9% and 2:4%;
respectively. For b
1
45

; b
2
45

; the maximum effects on the extreme

bending moments M
e
x
; M
e
y
and M
e
xy
for a period of 20 years are 0:02%; 2:0%
and 3:09%; respectively.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 3
Coordinates of the selected points
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
(35,45) (115,45) (185,45) (265,45) (75,30) (150,30) (225,30) (35,15) (115,15) (185,15) (265,15)
(0,0)
1 2 3 4
5 6 7
8 9 10 11
6
0
300
Fig. 6. Grid of the plate.
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
linear
nonlinear
combined
linear
nonlinear
combined
-500000
-400000
-300000
-200000
-100000
0
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
-500000
-600000
-400000
-300000
-200000
-100000
0
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
t [years]

1
= 45,
2
= 135
t [years]

1
= 45,
2
= -45 (a)
(b)
Fig. 7. Predicted extreme value of bending moment M
e
xy
of point 1: (a) b
1
45

; b
2
45

; (b) b
1

45

; b
2
135

:
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 451
6. Conclusions
The objective of the paper has been to investigate the membrane effect in VLFS of
the pontoon type subjected to stochastic wave loads. In the analysis linear incident
waves are assumed and the nonlinearities in the response are solely due to the
coupling between axial forces and bending moments. This coupling is modeled by
the von Karman plate equations.
The numerical solution is found in the frequency domain taking only the lowest
order of nonlinearity into account. The nonlinear responses involve sum and
differences combinations of three wave components. These components are
determined numerically using the concept of principal modes which allows a quick
identication of the resonance modes. The nonlinear response is symmetric with a
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0 5 10 15 20
-300000
-250000
-200000
-150000
-100000
-50000
0
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
t [years]
linear
nonlinear
combined
Fig. 8. Predicted extreme value of bending moment M
e
xy
of point 4 b
1
45

; b
2
45

:
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
-300000
-350000
-250000
-200000
-150000
-100000
-50000
0
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
-300000
-350000
-400000
-250000
-200000
-150000
-100000
-50000
0
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
t [years]
t [years]
linear
nonlinear
combined
linear
nonlinear
combined
(b) (a)
1
= 45,
2
= -45

1
= 45,
2
= 135
Fig. 9. Predicted extreme value of bending moment M
e
xy
of point 5: (a) b
1
45

; b
2
45

; (b) b
1

45

; b
2
135

:
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 452
kurtosis different from a Gaussian distribution. Extreme values of the response are
determined by a Hermite transformation involving the variance and the kurtosis of
the response.
From the numerical example it is found that for a typical VLFS pontoon
conguration the membrane effects are very modest, decreasing the extreme bending
moment by a few percent. The conclusion is slightly different from Chen et al.,
considering regular waves [5].
The wave loads are treated by a linear procedure and further studies should be
performed to assess the importance of nonlinear wave load components. Also shear
deformations ought to be considered in future work.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0 5 10 15 20
0 5 10 15 20
-250000
-200000
-150000
-100000
-50000
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
t [years]
linear
nonlinear
combined

1
= 45,
2
= 135
t [years]

1
= 45,
2
= -45
linear
nonlinear
combined
0
-250000
-200000
-150000
-100000
-50000
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
0
(a) (b)
Fig. 10. Predicted extreme value of bending moment M
e
xy
of point 6: (a) b
1
45

; b
2
45

; (b) b
1

45

; b
2
135

:
0 5 10 15 20
-250000
-200000
-150000
-100000
-50000
0
linear
nonlinear
combined
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
t [years]
Fig. 11. Predicted extreme value of bending moment M
e
xy
of point 7 b
1
45

; b
2
45

:
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 453
References
[1] Ertekin RC, Riggs HR. Proceedings of the rst international workshop on very large oating
structures-VLFS91, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 1991.
[2] Ertekin RC, Riggs HR. Proceedings of the third international workshop on very large oating
structures-VLFS99, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 1999.
[3] Watanabe Y. Proceedings of the second international workshop on very large oating structures-
VLFS96, Hayama, Japan, November 2528, 1996.
[4] Kashiwagi M, Koterayama W, Ohkusu M. Hydroelasticity in marine technology. Proceedings of the
second international conference on hydroelasticity in marine technology, Fukuoka, Japan, 1998.
[5] Chen XJ, Jensen JJ, Cui WC, Fu SX. Hydroelasticity of a oating plate in multi-directional waves.
Ocean Eng 2003;30(15):19972017.
[6] Wu YS. Hydroelasticity of oating bodies. PhD thesis, Brunel University, UK, 1984.
[7] Newman JN. Marine hydrodynamics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 1986.
[8] Price WG, Wu YS. Structural responses of a SWATH of multi-hulled vessel travelling in waves.
International conference on SWATH ships and advanced multi-hulled vessels, RINA, London, 1985.
[9] Chen XJ, Wu YS, Cui WC, Tang XF. Nonlinear hydroelastic analysis of a moored oating body.
Ocean Eng 2003;30(8):9651003.
[10] Brush DO, Almroth BO. Buckling of bars, plates and shells. USA: Kingsport Press; 1975.
[11] Chen XJ, Cui WC, Song H, Tang XF. Numerical solution of membrane forces for a freefree oating
plate with large deection. China Ocean Engineering 2003;17(2):16376.
[12] Sim IH, Choi HS. An analysis of the hydroelastic behavior of large oating structures in oblique
waves. Hydroelasticity in marine technology. Proceedings of the second international conference on
hydroelasticity in marine technology, Fukuoka, Japan, 1998. p. 1959.
[13] Yago K, Endo H. Model experiment and numerical calculation of the hydroelastic behavior of
matlike VLFS. Proceedings of the second international workshop on very large oating structures-
VLFS96, Hayama, Japan, 1996.
[14] Longuet-Higgins MS. The effect of non-linearities on statistical distributions in the theory of sea
waves. J Fluid Mech 1964;17:45980.
[15] Jensen JJ, Dogliani M. Wave-induced ship hull vibrations on stochastic seaways. Marine Struct
1996;9(34):35387.
[16] Jensen JJ. Load and global response of ships. Elsevier ocean engineering book series, vol. 4. UK:
Elsevier Science, 2001.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0 5 10 15 20
-400000
-300000
-200000
-100000
0
linear
nonlinear
combined
M
e
x
y
[
N
m
/
m
]
t [years]
Fig. 12. Predicted extreme value of bending moment M
e
xy
of point 8 b
1
45

; b
2
135

:
X.-j. Chen et al. / Marine Structures 17 (2004) 435454 454