An Experimental Study in the Hydroelastic Response of an Aluminum Wedge in Drop Tests

• Main Author: Eastridge, Jonathan R
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UNO 2017
• Subjects: naval architecture; marine engineering; hydroelasticity; hydrodynamics; planing; wave slamming; wedge drop experiment; Engineering; Other Engineering
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2317; http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3446&context=td

Slamming of marine planing craft is expected to arise due to the high speed nature of their operating conditions. High hydrodynamic forces are inevitably induced causing the shell plating to deflect, which in turn can influence the flow physics surrounding the hull. In order to study the hull’s hydroelastic response due to a slamming event, wedge drop experiments were performed with an aluminum wedge of 57 inches in length, 47 inches in breadth, and 20 degree deadrise with 1/4 in. thick unstiffened bottom panels. The elastic behavior of the hull plating was measured via two methods. The first method uses strain gages to analyze the wedge’s deadrise panel deflections, and the second method is a Stereoscopic- Digital Image Correlation (S-DIC) technique. In the present investigation, an S-DIC code has been developed and utilized to study the deflections and to advance the capabilities of future research. Comparisons are made between the methods and also with theoretical studies. The deflections measured are approximately 0.1 in. on a panel spanning 24.5 inches, and the predictions made using S-DIC and strain gages differ by approximately 23%.