Local slamming impact of sandwich composite hulls

We develop a hydroelastic model based on a {3, 2}-order sandwich composite panel theory and Wagner’s water impact theory for investigating the fluid–structure interaction during the slamming process. The sandwich panel theory incorporates the transverse shear and the transverse normal deformations of the core, while the face sheets are modeled with the Kirchhoff plate theory. The structural model has been validated with the general purpose finite element code ABAQUS®. The hydrodynamic model, based on Wagner’s theory, considers hull’s elastic deformations. A numerical procedure to solve the nonlinear system of governing equations, from which both the fluid’s and the structure’s deformations can be simultaneously computed, has been developed and verified. The hydroelastic effect on hull’s deformations and the unsteady slamming load have been delineated. This work advances the state of the art of analyzing hydroelastic deformations of composite hulls subjected to slamming impact.