2D-Flow Calculation Around Floating Bodies Using a Finite Element Method

This paper presents a numerical procedure to study the full nonlinear hydrodynamic problem of a moving body in a viscous flow in the presence of a free surface. The Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically with the Finite Element Method using Chorin’s Projection. Moving boundaries are modelled in an Arbitrary Lagrangean-Eulerian Formulation and an adaptive mesh is used. The use of different approaches to account for the boundary condition for the hull and it’s interaction with the free surface is discussed. Three different hydrodynamic problems are solved and their results are compared with published numerical and experimental ones: 1 - the sloshing of a fluid in a angular basin; 2 - a circular cylinder oscillating horizontally close to the free surface; 3 - an oscillating rectangular floating cylinder.