The relative motion and wave elevation between two floating structures in waves

In this paper, the relative motion and wave elevation between two bodies in waves are studied by the linearized potential theory and the 3D pulsating source distribution method is used. The numerical technique with four series expansions and one integral representation submitted by Telste & Noblesse (1986) is adopted for solving the corresponding Green function and its derivative. Including the three-dimensional hydrodynamic interaction between two floating structures, the twelve coupled motions were obtained and then extended to calculate the relative motions and wave elevations. The satisfactory agreement of the motion amplitude with experimental data is obtained, which can be used to support the validity of the present technique. From the present results, we can conclude that the 3D prediction model developed here is indeed better than the 2D one. However the further experiments for relative motion and wave elevation are still needed to make the present method more convincing.