Article

# Can a single floating body be expressed as the sum of two bodies?

(Impact Factor: 0.8). 10/2010; 68(2):153-164. DOI: 10.1007/s10665-010-9387-7

ABSTRACT

Can a single floating body be expressed as the sum of two bodies? Geometrically, the answer is always ‘yes’. However, the
subject of the present paper is if this is also the case from the viewpoint of hydrodynamics, that is, (1) if it is justified
to treat hydrodynamic-interaction theory as if there exists some water between the two opposing surfaces of the two bodies,
although actually no water exists between them? and (2) can the wave field around one of the two bodies due to the waves scattered
by the other body be expressed in terms of a local coordinate system fixed to the corresponding body and vice versa? Theoretical
and numerical investigations are carried out and it is concluded that the answer to the first question is ‘yes’, whereas the
answer to the second question is, in principle, ‘no’, but, in practice, such integrated quantities as hydrodynamic forces,
especially horizontal forces, could still be calculated quite correctly if the body is divided into rectangular sub-bodies
with aspect ratio close to unity.

KeywordsAddition theorem of Bessel functions-Hydrodynamic interaction-Very large floating structure

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