Experimental hydroelastic responses of an elastic container ship-inspired barge model produced using additive manufacturing

Despite significant advancements in the field of computational hydroelasticity, manufacturing methods for corresponding physical models have not changed beyond the flexible backbone concept in the past 20 years. Few researchers have attempted to produce continuous models with an accurate internal structure, the so-called elastic models, in order to obtain more detailed measurements of the structural responses. These investigations faced the limitations of the then available manufacturing methods, which did not allow for any internal details of the structure, apart from bulkheads, to be included in the design without significant increase in difficulty and cost. The resulting structures, although continuous, comprised of an external shell and the effects of cross-sectional shape could not be investigated.In this investigation, manufacturing difficulties of the past are overcome by use of additive manufacturing to create a barge model with a container ship-inspired cross section. The design and manufacturing processes are presented, followed by vibration tests and towing tank tests in regular head waves. The measured vertical bending moment responses in various stations were found to correlate well with 2D hydroelasticity and the strain distribution along the cross section of the vessel indicated beam-like behaviour. A detailed discussion of the challenges and sources of uncertainty is included, along with suggestions for future work