Floating bodies interacting with water waves: development of a time-domain panel method

The work of ocean and coastal engineers and naval architects can be supported by computational models for the interaction of water waves and flows interacting with e.g. offshore platforms, coastal-defense works, and ships. One particular boundary-integral equation method based on a potential-flow model is further developed. After a description of the method, it is verified and validated in two dimensions by calculating fluid forces on oscillating surface-piercing bodies, as well as highly nonlinear waves in a tank. The description of the fluid-body interaction is elaborated and extended. The numerical algorithm for this interaction is improved. An alternative body-boundary condition and algorithm are derived and designed. Further improvements to the numerical method are also described. Three-dimensional calculations for forced and freely floating bodies give good results. Conclusions and recommendations for further work are given.