Hydroelastic analysis of plates and some approximations

The paper concerns the modelling of very large pontoon-type floating structures by thin beams and plates of shallow draft, excited by regular waves. It is shown how the classical theory of hydroelasticity, involving the concepts of added mass and damping associated with the structural responses, may be reconciled with more recent formulations. In the latter, coupled equations for displacement and total hydrodynamic pressure are solved directly, without the breakdown into diffraction and radiation problems. A numerical model is adopted based on a Galerkin approach, and the nature of the various components of hydrodynamic loading on a shallow draft beam is investigated. The approach is then extended to the case of thin plate in waves, where the hydrodynamic effects are fully three dimensional.