Abstract
This paper discusses the elastic responses of a Coastal Cargo Ship (CCS) consisting of unit modules with advance forward speed in oblique waves. We introduce a simple way of connecting the units but with enough capability to link the modular part of ship as a unity. The flexible connection consists of male and female rubber fenders and additional pre-tensioned ropes. This kind of connection system is proposed to be used at inner sea with relatively calm waters wherein the modular ship can move at a moderate speed. The modules are assumed to be rigid compared to the connections. The computations are performed to investigate the vertical elastic responses of four-modules connected end-to-end by assuming that in the simple hinge, flexible rubber connections between adjacent modules, no gaps are found. A simple method is presented to study the hydroelasticity and rope tension forces of the modular ship with forward speed in oblique waves. The experiments for a three-dimensional model at Fn=0.16 in oblique waves have been performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the calculation method. In the experiments, deflections of each part were measured using calibrated potentiometers. Force transducers were used to measure the rope connection force between the modules.
