Proceedings of The Thirteenth (2003) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, May 25 –30, 2003

Copyright © 2003 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers
ISBN 1 –880653 -60 –5 (Set); ISSN 1098 –6189 (Set)

Nonlinear Time Domain Simulation of the Motions of Floating Bodies in Waves

Apostolos Papanikolaou Dimitris Spanos

Ship Design Laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens,

NTUA-SDL, Athens, Greece

ABSTRACT Sw wetted surface

Swo equilibrium (mean) wetted surface
A time domain simulation method for the prediction of the motions and T draught
loads of arbitrarily shaped floating bodies in waves is presented. The t time
method is essentially quasi-nonlinear, as it considers the hydrodynamic UG velocity of center of gravity
interaction effects of body and waves by use of linear potential theory WL water line
but fully accounts for the nonlinearities induced by the actual body x displacement vector
dynamics and kinematics. The present time domain method has been x4 roll
applied for validation purposes to the simulation of the motions of two x5 pitch
3D cylindrical bodies and numerical results are compared with z vertical coordinate
corresponding results obtained by application of exact, small amplitude ζR free surface elevation over water line
second-order frequency domain theories and model experiments. The θ heeling angle
method seems to capture exactly all first-order and satisfactorily the λ wavelength
dominant part of the occurring second-order effects. However, further ρ water density
systematic studies are necessary to conclusively assess the validity of Φ velocity potential
the method for the assessment of the nonlinear behavior of arbitrarily ω angular velocity
shaped floating bodies in extreme wave conditions.
INTRODUCTION
KEY WORDS: Time domain; simulation; drift; non-linear motions;
offshore structures In recent time, nonlinear time domain simulation methods are
increasingly employed to the assessment of the motions and loads
NOMENCLATURE acting on floating bodies in seaways. Depending on the type and degree
of the non-linearities considered in the formulation of the set problem,
[I] matrix of moments of inertia the employed methods may be rather complicate or simplified,
A wave amplitude therefore it is essential to validate employed methods by comparison
Aij added masses with relevant model experiments or other type of established methods,
Aw water plane area before concluding on the range of applicability of each method.
D transformation matrix between body-fixed and earth-fixed
coordinate systems At the Ship Design Laboratory of NTUA a nonlinear 6 DOF time
d vertical distance of G from still water free surface domain numerical simulation method has been developed in recent
F forces years, which has been until now extensively used for the evaluation of
FFK Froude-Krylov forces large amplitude motions, including the possible capsize, as well as the
FR radiation forces flooding procedure of damaged ships in waves. The floating body to
g gravity acceleration wave interaction is approached by linear potential theory while the full
H wave height body kinematics and dynamics are considered assuming the body rigid.
k wavenumber However, large amplitude motion calculations on the basis of linear
Kij kernel functions potential theory for the exciting wave and wave-body interaction
m body mass effects are principally an inconsistent approach, if higher order
M moment diffraction and radiation effects are neglected. On the other side, the
n unit normal vector good correlation of obtained numerical results to experimental
p pressure measurements for the motions of damaged ships indicates that this type

571
of modeling is satisfactory in many practical cases.
Second-order effects, like drift forces and related motions, are
encountered by freely floating bodies, when in a seaway. Also other
nonlinear phenomena, like the effect of flare of the body shape near the
calm waterline, the body motion and wave run-up in extremely large
amplitude waves are few of nonlinear phenomena of special interest to
designers and operators.
In this paper a comprehensive review of the developed time domain
simulation method by Spanos (2002) is provided, and its validation by
comparison of relevant numerical results for two standard type
cylinders with corresponding ones derived by exact, small amplitude
second-order potential theories in the frequency domain and model
experiments is presented [Molin (1983); Mavrakos, Bardis and
Balaskas (1987); Zaraphonitis (1990)].
THE TIME DOMAIN SOLUTION
A mathematical model accounting for the motion of floating bodies
under the excitation of sea waves and the influence of other external
forces or induced dynamic phenomena, like mooring forces or even the
effect of accumulating water on deck or other body spaces, has been
developed at the Ship Design Laboratory of NTUA, and it is
implemented in the computer code CAPSIM. It provides an efficient
way to investigate the motions of ships or floating structures in general
coupled with other dynamic phenomena. The model allows the
consideration of large amplitude motions and establishes a motion
simulation base upon which the dynamic performance of floating
bodies can be analyzed.
The floating body is considered as a rigid one of arbitrary shape
moving in six degrees of freedom. The equations of motion of the body
in the three dimensional space can be derived by application of the
momentum conservation theorem. The relevant equations are of the
following general form:

D


pulsating source distribution method and employs triangular or
mU G + ω ∧ U G  = F (1a)
 


[I ]ω
D + ω
∧ [I ]ω
= M (1b)
where m denotes the mass of body, [I] is the matrix of body’s moments
of inertia and the vectors UG is the linear velocity of center of mass G,
ω the angular velocity, F and M the external forces and moments
respectively. Dot over vector denotes differentiation with respect to
time. Both equations are expressed with respect to the body fixed
coordinate system GXYZ that has its origin at the mass center G.
These equations supplemented by a set of equations relating the
velocities to the time rate of change of relevant position vectors define
the full set of the governing twelve ordinary nonlinear differential
equations of body motions. When the external forces, acting on the
mass, are specified, then the motion of the body can be calculated by
integration of the set system of differential equations.
The external to the body acting forces and moments appearing on the
right hand side of equations (1) express the entire set of forces acting
on the present inertia system and causing its motion. These forces
comprise gravity, hydrostatic and hydrodynamic components; others
might be added in a straightforward way (wind & current forces, etc).
Wave exciting forces, as the dominant dynamic part, are further
analyzed into Froude-Krylov or undisturbed incident wave, radiation
and diffraction forces, following linear potential theory.
Incident wave forces together with the hydrostatic ones are herein
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calculated through direct integration of the dynamic and hydrostatic
pressure over the instantaneously wetted surface Sw(t) of the body,
defined by the undisturbed incoming wave and the instant position of
the body.
 
FFK (t ) = ∫∫ pn ds (2)
Sw (t )
where the pressure p comprises hydrostatic and dynamic terms,
according to the next formula.
∂Φ 1
p = − ρgz − ρ − ρ ∇Φ 2 (3)
∂t 2
Radiation forces are herein calculated by use of the added mass and
damping coefficients calculated in frequency domain and properly
transformed into the time domain applying the impulse response
function concept by Cummins (1962).
∞
FR ,i (t ) = − Aij (∞ )UD Gj − ∫ K ij (τ )U Gj (t − τ ) dτ , i, j=1,…, 6 (4)
0
where Aij are the added masses at infinite frequency of oscillation and
the kernel functions Kij are calculated by the cosine Fourier transform
of the forced motion damping coefficients calculated in the frequency
domain.
For irregular seaway excitation, elementary diffraction forces
corresponding to the elementary wave frequencies of an assumed
irregular seaway spectrum are taken to be directly proportional to the
corresponding elementary diffraction forces calculated in the frequency
domain. Finally, nonlinear viscous effects are taken into account for the
roll motions using a semi-empirical quadratic roll velocity model.
Radiation and diffraction forces in the frequency domain were herein
calculated by applying the computer code NEWDRIFT, Papanikolaou
(1989). It is a six degrees of freedom, three-dimensional panel code
program for the calculation of motions and wave induced loads,
including drift force effects acting on arbitrarily shaped bodies in
regular waves. The code is based on a zero-speed Green function
quadrilateral panels for the modeling of the wetted ship surface.
The solution of the above formulated set of differential equations of
motion (Equ. 1a and 1b) is accomplished by applying an integration
method based on the extrapolation scheme, which permits high
accuracy results at reduced computational effort, Spanos (2002).
One particular problem of interest in the framework of the validation of
the present time domain solution is the effect of higher-order wave-
induced effects, like second-order diffraction and drift forces, on the
body motion responses. Second-order diffraction forces are not
included in the presently used hydrodynamic modeling, whereas the
quasi-second order drift forces, depending in the frequency domain on
first-order quantities, are indirectly included in the present time domain
formulation. Systematic comparisons of the resulting numerical drift
forces with experimentally measured drift forces acting on shiplike
bodies indicated that the formulated time domain solution captures
satisfactorily the dominant part of the drift forces effects, Spanos,
Maron and Papanikolaou (2002).
In particular, the second order wave-induced forces acting on a floating
body can be derived by a direct integration method in the frequency-
domain according to Zaraphonitis (1990) (see equ. (5)). This
expression results by further elaboration of the originally introduced
formulation by Pinkster and Van Oortmerssen (1977).
 1 2   1 2
F ( 2) = ρgAw d  x 4(1) + x5(1) i3 + D (1) F (1) + ρ ∫∫ ∇Φ (1) n ds +
2
2   2 Swo
 
+
1
(

)  1
ρ ∫∫ x (1) ∇Φ t(1) n ds − ρg ∫ ζ R(1)
2 Swo 2 WL
2 n
cosθ
dl (5)

The above equation results from a strict second-order perturbation

expansion formulation of the problem of the floating body motion in
regular waves and refers the second-order twin-frequency and mean
forces acting on the body. The mean values of right hand side terms
over one period are the herein of interest drift force components. The
superscripts (1) and (2) denote corresponding first and second order
quantity components respectively.
The first and the last term of the RHS of Eq. (5) are related to quasi-
hydrostatic forces. The second term expresses the transformation of the
first order forces to the moving body-fixed coordinate system. The third
term expresses the forces resulting from the correction of the dynamic
pressure with respect to the induced fluid velocity, whereas the fourth
term expresses those forces related to the change of the first order
dynamic pressure in the three dimensional space.
T
2R
Figure 1. First Cylinder mesh
In order to ensure compatible data between the simulation and the
frequency domain results, the roll viscous effects in the simulation
method were attenuated. As shown in the next Figure 2, where a
numerical decay test for the cylinder is presented, the roll motion has
been reduced only by 25% after five periods of simulation.

According to the implemented formulation for the present time domain

solution, all of these five second-order terms are included in the
calculation of the forces acting on the body. But in the third and fourth
term, only the contribution from the incident and radiation velocity
potential is considered. Therefore, the second order forces calculated in
the time domain diverge from the exact second order forces laid down
in Eq. (5) by the effect of the missing diffraction terms.

A systematic investigation of the second order forces, and particularly

the more interesting horizontal part of the drift forces, has been
undertaken in order to conclude about the level of accuracy of the
developed time domain modeling as well as to identify the regions of
satisfactory and less accurate performance. The obtained results
contribute to the understanding of the drift force effects captured by the
present simulation code and to indicate the importance of full inclusion
of drift forces effects in the time domain solution.
The study results regarding the motion and loads on two standard type
vertical cylinders are presented and discussed below.
NUMERICAL RESULTS
The numerical results for the motion and loads on two vertical
cylinders were computed and compared with corresponding numerical
results of other methods and some available experimental
measurements. The two cylinders were studied in regular waves and the
results are presented in non-dimensional form. The first cylinder has a
radius to draft ratio equal to 1.0 whereas for the second cylinder this
ratio is equal to 1.975.
Drift Forces
First, the cylinder with a draft to radius ratio equal to T/R=1.0 and the
radius equals 1.0 m is investigated. The water depth is considered
infinite. The center of gravity is located at 0.485 m above keel and the
radius of gyration is 0.742 m. The same body has been treated earlier
by Mavrakos, Bardis and Balaskas (1987), Molin (1983) using
frequency domain potential theory, and the published results are used
for comparison with the numerical results obtained with the present
simulation method.
The geometry of the cylinder is modeled through a mesh of
quadrilateral and triangular surface elements. The mesh consisting of
320 elements (160 on side and 160 on bottom) is presented in the
Figure 1.
Figure 2. Numerical roll decay test
The cylinder was also numerically modeled with an extra restoring
force in the surge direction, simulating the effect of a soft spring that
prevents the cylinder from dragging downstream. This soft spring with
a constant equal to 0.1 KN/m was considered necessary for the present
study as its drift motion established after a while due to drift forces
introduces a constant velocity downstream and induces a drag
resistance that would make this comparison incompatible.
Calculations were made for a range of frequencies up to a number
kR=1.25 to cover the resonance of heave and pitch. In the numerical
simulation, the wavelength to height ratio was kept constant equal to
λ/H = 100 to allow an adequate comparison with the comparable data
of the used frequency domain methods, which are based on small
amplitude motion perturbation techniques.
Figures 3 to 5 present the first order motions for surge, heave and pitch
motion resulting from application of the various methods. The solid
line corresponds to the time domain simulation results of the CAPSIM
code. Dashed line to the results labeled MAVRAKOS correspond to
Mavrakos, Bardis and Balaskas (1987) results, while dotted line results
labeled NEWDRIFT correspond to the results of Zaraphonitis (1990).
Crosses correspond to the numerical results of Molin (1983).
The first order time simulation code results presented in these diagrams
were derived by spectral analysis of the time series of the time domain
solution. The surge motion in Figure 3 is given only for the CAPSIM
and NEWDRIFT codes, as no results from the other methods were
available. Some discrepancies are observed at kR=0.4 that corresponds
to the pitch resonance frequency. The soft spring used in the surge
direction obviously has no impact on the first order surge motion of the
cylinder.

573

Figure 3. Surge motion of cylinder (T/R=1.0)
Figure 4. Heave motion of cylinder (T/R=1.0)
Figure 5. Pitch motion of cylinder (T/R=1.0)
The heave motion presented in Figure 4 is practically identically
estimated by all methods for all frequencies out of the heave resonance
bandwidth. As regards the resonance region, the simulation method
calculates somehow lower motions because of the inclusion of minor
viscous roll effects. The predicted first order pitch motion in Figure 5 is
practically identical for all the methods through out the frequency
range.
The overall first order results for the coupled motion of surge, heave
and pitch of the floating cylinder in regular waves indicate the
successful implementation of the time domain solution of the CAPSIM
code.
574
In next Figure 6 the horizontal drift force for the cylinder is presented.
The zero frequency force component resulting in the spectral analysis
of the time series of horizontal force due to waves is the drift force
presented in the diagram. The other methods’ drift force results as the
mean values of the horizontal force over one period.
Figure 6. Second order horizontal drift force
Comparing the CAPSIM results to the other numerical methods it
seems that simulated force converges to the other numerical results for
higher frequencies beyond the heave resonance frequency at about
kR=0.65. Regarding the lower frequencies, a continuous overestimation
of the drift force predicted by the simulation method throughout the
frequencies up to the resonance is observed. However, compared to the
other numerical methods, the simulation results come closer to the
experimental ones for a significant range of frequencies whereas they
tend to diverge at the resonance frequency itself.
The general behavior of the drift forces over the entire frequency range,
described above, fits to the experimental observations made during
model tests with ship models in regular beam seas. As shown in next
Figure 7 the mean drift velocity of a model of a passenger/RoRo ferry
(L = 5.333m, B = 1.014m) that has been recently tested in a model tank
[Spanos, Maron and Papanikolaou (2002)], in regular beam waves and
zero speed, is properly predicted by the simulation method for higher
values of kB, where B is the model’s breadth. For the lower values of
kB the measurements and numerical predictions by the simulation
method diverge, likewise the observed behavior for the horizontal drift
force on the cylinder in Figure 6. For the model test shown in Figure 7,
the horizontal drift force seems to be underestimated compared to the
experimental values, as indicated by the higher drift speed resulting
from the numerical simulations.
Experimental
Numerical
Figure 7. Mean drift velocity of a passenger/RoRo ferry model in beam
regular waves

It remains to be clarified why the present simulation tends to
overestimate the drift force effects at lower frequencies, where
diffraction effects are expected to anyway die out, hence any related
simplifying assumptions in the present theory would be more valid than
at higher frequencies.
For a better illustration of the time domain simulation responses, a
sample of the surge motion of the cylinder for one wave frequency is
given in the next Figure 8. This is the surge motion time series for
kR=1.00.
response.
The cylindrical radius equals 4.0 m and its draft equals 7.90 m. The
center of gravity is located 3.60 m above keel and the radius of gyration
equals 4.0 m. This cylinder has been also studied by Molin-Marion
(1985) and Zaraphonitis (1990, 1993), and corresponding results are
reproduced with the simulation method and compared with those
published above.
The cylinder’s geometry is modeled with a mesh similar to that
depicted in Figure 1, consisting of 360 surface elements (240 on side
and 120 on bottom). The cylinder has not any restoring force in the
surge direction like the cylinder studied in the previous paragraph, and
is free to drag downstream under the action of the drift force and the
induced resistance because of the body’s steady downstream speed.

The cylinder coupled motion in surge, heave and pitch in regular waves
of constant steepness (H/λ)=1/100 has been calculated with the
simulation code CASPIM. The steady state response of the cylinder has
been analyzed in the frequency domain and the two components
corresponding to the wave frequency (ω) and that of the double
frequency (2ω) are depicted in Figures 10, 11 and 12, together with the
corresponding numerical results of the other methods. The NEWDRIFT
numerical results correspond to the second order theory calculations by
Zaraphonitis, and the MOLIN results to the relevant second order
calculations by Molin. In these diagrams the thick lines correspond to
the (ω) components whereas the thin lines to the (2ω) components.

Figure 8. Cylinder’s surge motion for kR=1.00

As presented in the above diagram the cylinder’s surge motion consists

of a transient phase that gradually goes over to a harmonic oscillation
around a mean value of 0.03 m. This mean displacement is the net
effect of the exerted drift force and the assumed soft spring restoring
force in the surge direction.

In the next Figure 9 the spectral analysis of the above surge motion
results to a zero frequency component that corresponds to the mean
surge displacement and the motion corresponding to the wave
frequency of 3.13 rad/sec. Note that the motion spectrum has been
herein analyzed for the motion 150 sec after initialization of the
simulation and a small amount of transient motion energy is still
present at about 0.15 rad/sec.
Figure 10. Surge motion of cylinder (T/R=1.975)

Figure 9. Spectrum of surge motion for kR=1.00

Double Frequency Responses

A second cylinder having a draft to breadth ratio equal to 1.975 was Figure 11. Heave motion of cylinder (T/R=1.975)
additionally studied. The prediction of the second order responses of
the cylinder in regular waves is herein of interest and particularly the
double frequency (2ω) components included in the cylinder’s motion

575
 Figure 12. Pitch motion of cylinder (T/R=1.975) Figure 13. Asymptotic behavior of cylinder surge motion (T/R=1.975)

As observed in Figure 10, where the surge motion of the cylinder is

depicted, the simulated motion response at (ω) frequency, that
corresponds to the first order motion, converges to the other numerical
results for higher frequencies to the right of frequency kR=0.20, which
correspond to the pitch resonance. For the lower frequencies the
simulated surge motion diverges from the rest numerical results.
Regarding the second order motion (2ω) results a quite well correlation
between the simulation results and those of Molin is observed.

Regarding the heave motion of the cylinder, presented in Figure 11, a

fine correlation between the three methods is observed, whereas the
double frequency response shows a low correlation of the obtained
results, particularly around the heave resonance frequency, where a
substantial underestimation occurs for the simulation method results.
For the lower frequencies up to kR=0.25 a coincidence of results of the
three methods is observed. Figure 14. Asymptotic behavior of cylinder pitch motion (T/R=1.975)

The comparison for the pitch motion of double frequency is better for
the higher frequencies whereas for the lower frequencies correlation
worsens. It is observed as substantial discrepancy mainly in the range
of pitch resonance. This behavior is presumably related to the large
amplitude pitch motion that the cylinder performs at the resonance. The
first peak met at the left side of the diagram corresponds to the
superharmonic resonance of pitch motion as the double frequency of
this response coincides to the natural pitch period of the cylinder. A
divergence between the three methods as regards the (ω) response at
lower frequencies is also observed, similar to the surge behavior. This
result could be explained by the assumed absolute magnitude of the
wave amplitude used in the simulation. For constant steepness waves
studied herein large absolute wave amplitudes compared to the cylinder
dimensions result for the lower frequencies. When the wave amplitude
used in the simulation method is reduced then the (ω) motion converges
to that predicted by NEWDRIFT.
For the examination of the non-linearity effect of wave height on the
cylinder’s motion the responses were simulated for various wavelength
to wave height ratios. Figure 15 presents the non-dimensional
responses for the three degrees of freedom and for both components of
(ω) and (2ω) for a wave excitation corresponding to kR=0.50. As
observed the responses become practically independent of the wave
height for (λ/H) ratios greater than 60. The corresponding wave height
to cylinder’s draught ration (Η/Τ) below of which the linear regime is
recognized is about 10%. Based on the above, it is evident that the non-
linearity effect of the wave height on the motion responses is small,
thus the above discussed results could be expressed as well defined
non-dimensional Response Amplitude Operators (RAOs) with respect
to wave amplitude. A possible nonlinear effect of wave amplitude on
the motion responses would obviously have required an alternative
approach of presentation, as the RAOs concept is linear.

In the next two Figures 13 and 14 the asymptotic responses for surge
and pitch respectively at lower frequencies are shown. The square
symbols in these diagrams denote the response according to CAPSIM
code, and the lines correspond to the results of the previous Figures 10
and 10. The asymptotic surge motion converges to the asymptotic value
1.0, similar to the values obtained by finite wave steepness simulation,
whereas the asymptotic pitch motion converges to the NEWDRIFT
results.

Figure 15. Cylinder’s responses versus wave height (kR=0.50)

576
 and Calculation of Motion and Load of Arbitrarily Shaped 3D
CONCLUSIONS Bodies in Waves", Journal of Marine Structures.

In this paper a quasi-nonlinear time domain simulation method for the

prediction of the motion of floating bodies was presented and validated
by studying the behavior of two vertical cylinders in regular waves. It
was shown that the present time domain solution has been successfully
implemented and disposes all fundamental characteristics to enable its
further development towards a fully satisfactory nonlinear time domain
solution method.

The present method benefits from the known advantages of non-linear

time domain solutions. It allows the simulation of large amplitude
motions for non-harmonic excitations. A variety of external force
effects, like mooring, current and wind loads, trapped water movements
etc can be easily studied. Finally, the efficient numerical
implementation of the method in the developed code allows practically
real time simulations of complicated body motion on a modern desktop
computer.

The method was herein validated by calculations of second order forces

and motions compared to strict second-order frequency domain theory
formulations and the overall agreement was satisfactory. The present
simulation method deviates from the strict second-order frequency
domain theory formulations at lower frequencies where the wave
amplitude assumed in the simulation method is absolutely large, as well
at the range of heave resonance, where absolute heave motions are also
significantly large.

Further research is considered necessary to definitely conclude on the

validity of the method for the prediction of motions and loads of intact
of damaged floating structures in waves, though the method proved
until now fully satisfactory for the prediction of damaged ship motions
in waves.

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Vertical Drift Forces on Axisymmetric Bodies in Regular Waves",
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Molin, B (1983). "On Second-Order Motion and Vertical Drift Forces
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Molin, B and Marion A (1985). "Etude au deuxieme ordre du
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