A CFD Numerical Study to Evaluate the Effect of Deck Roughness and Length on Shipping Water Loading

Abstract

Shipping water events that propagate over the decks of marine structures can generate significant loads on them. As the configuration of the structure may affect the loading behaviour, investigation of shipping water loads in different structural conditions is required. This paper presents a numerical investigation of the effect of deck roughness and deck length on vertical and horizontal loads caused by shipping water on a fixed structure. Systematic analyses were carried out of isolated shipping water events generated with the wet dam-break method and simulated with OpenFoam Computational Fluid Dynamics toolbox. The numerical approach was validated and then the shipping water loads were examined. It was found that, as roughness increased, the maximum vertical and horizontal loads showed a delay. As the deck length reduced, the vertical backflow loads tended to increase. These results suggest it may be worthwhile examining the behaviour of shipping water as it propagates over rough surfaces caused by fouling, corrosion, or those with small structural elements distributed on them. Moreover, the effect of deck length is important in understanding the order of magnitude of loads on structures with variable deck lengths, and those which have forward and backflow loading stages.