Study on the Coupled Dynamics of a Catamaran Hovercraft Wind Farm Service Vessel with a Turbine Tower in Transverse Waves

This paper studies the dynamic behavior of a catamaran hovercraft wind farm service vessel (CHWFSV) during the berthing coupling process with a wind turbine tower, aiming to enhance its safety and reliability in engineering applications. By constructing an arc-shaped elastic fender and employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD), it investigates the motion response under transverse waves considering the effects of thrust, air-cushion flow and the elasticity coefficient of the fender. A finite element analysis (FEA) model of the arc-shaped fender, accounting for elastic stress and strain, is developed to study its coupled mechanical behavior under different thrust conditions. The research in this paper is based on numerical CFD simulation with experimental validation. The motion modeling under transverse waves is further verified through uncertainty analysis. The series of research results indicate the following: vessel rolling resonance occurs at λ/L = 1.667 (λ/L denotes the dimensionless wavelength-to-length ratio); increasing air-cushion flow extends the roll period and reduces roll amplitude at λ/L = 0.667, while applying thrust at λ/L = 1.667~3 lowers roll but reduces pitch and heave stability; relatively good berthing performance is achieved when FCM/∆ = 0.054 and the elastic coefficient is 1.25 × 107 Pa/m (Δ represents the vessel weight).