MS Plan B Defense: Hydroelasticity of the Inflatable Assault Craft during slamming events

Bradley Beeksma

Advanced inflatable structures are an emerging technology in the marine environment. Their growth stems from a demand by the U.S. Navy for rapidly deployable structures such as inflatable boats, inflatable bridges, and launch and recover systems. This novel technology requires considering the interactions between hydrodynamic forces and structural behavior, a study commonly known as fluid–structure interaction (FSI). The ability of numerical tools to model FSI characteristics of inflatables is severely underdeveloped in relevant industries. The present work is an evaluation of an existing, research FSI solver to model an advanced inflatable technology known as drop-stitch fabric. As a case study, a drop test of an inflatable assault craft is modeled using parameters based on experimental data. When compared to a conventional rigid case model, the FSI model more accurately captures the unique energy absorption capabilities of drop-stitch fabric inflatables. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using numerical modeling to predict behaviors of complex inflatable marine structures.