Slamming Loads and Responses on a Non-Prismatic Stiffened Aluminium Wedge: Part I. Experimental Study

Hydroelastic slamming is a phenomenon which occurs when there is a fully coupled interaction between water surface and a deformable structure and it has a significant effect on the local and global loads of the structure during high velocity impacts in rough seas. This article, which is Part I of a two-part companion paper, deals with the experimental studies of the impact-induced loads and structural responses of a three-dimensional non-prismatic aluminium wedge with stiffened panel during free-fall water entry. Two different plates were considered on the bottom of the wedge in order to study the influence of flexural rigidity on hydroelastic slamming. It is shown that the maximum strain and deformation occur during the partially wetted phase of the slamming problem. The study concludes that the hydroelasticity effects on the slamming responses generally increase at lower deadrise angles and higher impact velocity. The importance of FSI simulation is assessed by utilizing a hydroelasticity factor (RF), which is found to have a significant effect on the unstiffened bottom for all impact velocities studied. For a stiffened bottom panel, hydroelasticity is only significant at high impact velocities.