Numerical Simulation of Floating Truss-Type Aquaculture Platform

The performance assessment of floating structures involves a significant amount of hydrodynamic analysis. As large-scale aquaculture platforms gradually emerge from coastal areas into the deep sea, it is vital to investigate their hydrodynamic responses. Net accounts for a high proportion of aquaculture platforms as the viscous forces acting on the entire platform cannot be ignored. Based on flexible multibody dynamics and a viscous fluid load calculation method, this paper developed a hydrodynamic program for evaluating truss-type aquaculture platforms. It simulated the hydrodynamic forces on the flexible net and main structure. A time-domain numerical simulation of a large-scale fishery platform was carried out. The results of the free decay motion response obtained by AQWA and the flexible body analysis method in self-programming were compared in still water, revealing quite different hydrodynamic behaviors between the two conditions. The present method demonstrates a potential approach for performance evaluation of large aquaculture equipment in the ocean environment.