Comparative Study of Hydroelastic Impact for One Free-Drop Wedge With Stiffened Panels by Experimental and Explicit Finite Element Methods

This paper studies the hydroelastic responses of a complex structure for one water entry problem. One steel wedge with complex stiffened panels was designed with a deadrise angle of 22 degrees and a series free-drop model tests were carried out. An explicit finite element code is adopted to simulate this coupled hydroelastic impact problem. The motion, stress responses on longitudinal stiffeners and transverse frames are obtained. Comparisons of the numerical and the experimental results are carried out. Good agreement is achieved. The hydroelastic effect is discussed.