Modelling hydrodynamic impacts in a random sea

Started: October 2020
Supervisor: Ma, L.; Swan, C.

Description of Research

Impact loading, or slamming, is a type of violent hydrodynamic loading events. It is most typically characterised by a large loading magnitude, a rapid rise to maximum and a very short loading duration. Given their large magnitude, impact loads have the potential to cause significant damages to offshore installations. Despite its great importance to traditional and emerging offshore sectors, the methods of predicting impact loading still incorporate large uncertainties, not least because of a lack of understanding of the underlying physics. This is even more the case for estimating impact loading arising from a random sea-state; the latter being the nature of realistic design conditions. 

In this PhD project, both laboratory tests and numerical simulations will be utilised to estimate the loading time-history of slamming processes and predict wave impacts in a random sea. We seek to build an effective model improving the design guidelines of offshore structures in terms of impact loading.

Background

Lei is a graduate with a BEng in Energy and Power Engineering from Hohai University and a MSc in Engineering Fluid Mechanics from Imperial College London.

Lei Dai

Fluid Mechanics Research Student 
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering 
Imperial College London SW7 2AZ 
lei.dai19@imperial.ac.uk