Modeling of cable-moored floating breakwaters connected with hinges

In the present paper, the overall performance of a cable-moored array of floating breakwaters connected by hinges is investigated under the action of monochromatic linear waves in the frequency domain. The performance is defined here as: (i) demonstration of acceptable levels of both response of the array and its effectiveness and (ii) non-failure of the mooring lines. The numerical analysis of the array is based on a 3D hydrodynamic formulation of the floating body coupled with the static and dynamic analyses of the mooring lines. The motions of the array of floating breakwaters associated with the hinge vertical translations are considered in the hydrodynamic analysis with the implementation of appropriate generalized modes. The stiffness and damping coefficients caused by the mooring lines in both rigid and generalized degrees of freedom are derived here in the general form. A rigorous parametric study is carried out in order to investigate the effect of different configurations (number of hinge joints and number of mooring lines) on the performance of the cable-moored array of floating breakwaters. Moreover, the performance of the various configurations of cable-moored floating breakwaters connected by hinges examined is compared with the performance of a single cable-moored floating breakwater with no hinges. It is found that the number of hinge joints and mooring lines have a direct effect on the performance of the cable-moored array of floating breakwaters.