Hydro-elastic response reduction system of a very large floating structure with wave energy absorption devices

A very large floating structure has hydro-elastic responses that are an elastic deformation and a slowly varying drift motion. Generally, a breakwater is established to reduce the responses. However, it is very difficult to construct it from a technical point of view and costs rise when the water depth increases. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the response reduction system for a very large floating structure even in open seas. In this paper a new hydro-elastic responses reduction system of a very large floating structure by using wave energy absorption devices has been proposed. The characteristics of hydro-elastic responses of a elastic structure with wave energy absorption devices were investigated both experimentally and numerically. This new system was proved effective in reduction of hydro-elastic responses of a very large floating structure. Two numerical analysis methods were developed to estimate hydro-elastic responses of a very large floating structure. The results obtained by these methods give a good agreement with the experiment results.