ABSTRACT
Zhao et al. (1996) applied a nonlinear Boundary Element Method that accounts for flow separation to study the water entry of a wedge and a bow section. This 2D model was found to overpredict the pressures for the wedge section. The authors were able to quantify the three-dimensional (3D) effects and successfully correct their results. Muzaferija et al. (1998) used a FV method with a free-surface capturing model of the VOF type. This method is well capable of predicting the large free surface deformations, including overturning and breaking waves. However, a fine grid is needed to capture all the details of the jet. The numerical model was validated against the experimental results of Zhao et al. (1996). The size of the numerical domain (tank) and three-dimensional effects were found to have a significant influence on the results. Sames et al. (1999) adopted a similar approach to predict the impact loads on the bow section of a containership. The motion history of water entry was found to have a significant influence on the pressures. The authors conclude that coupling with a rigid body motion solver is required to achieve realistic design pressures. Similar conclusions were reached by Reddy et al. (2002). Recently developed modelling techniques applied to the water entry problem include Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) methods, e.g. see Oger et al. (2006), Veen & Gourlay (2012) and explicit Finite Element methods, e.g. see Stenius et al. (2006), Wang & Guedes Soares (2012). Brizzolara et al. (2008) applied a wide range of potential and viscous CFD methods to assess their suitability for simulating a bow section impacting at various speeds and heel angles.
