Work

Numerical Analysis Comparison Between ANSYS AQWA and OrcaFlex for a Hollow Box-Shaped Floating Structure

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study presents a numerical comparison between ANSYS AQWA (2023 R2) and the OrcaFlex package (OrcaWave + OrcaFlex) for a 10 × 10 × 2 m rectangular floating structure. The hydrodynamic coefficients and displacement/load RAOs obtained from the two solvers exhibit nearly identical behavior, with deviations below 1% across all six motion modes. Under irregular wave conditions (Hs = 7 m, Tp = 8 s, 0° heading) and three mooring line lengths (145, 150, and 155 m), both solvers produced comparable mean surge motions and mean mooring tensions. However, OrcaFlex predicted 40–50% higher peak tensions due to its fully dynamic representation of slack–taut transitions and snap loading effects, whereas AQWA’s quasi-static catenary formulation filtered out these short-duration peaks. These findings confirm that although the two solvers are highly consistent in frequency-domain hydrodynamics, their time-domain predictions diverge when nonlinear mooring behavior becomes dominant. The study provides a transparent and reproducible benchmarking framework for cross-validation of potential-flow-based tools used in floating offshore structure design.

Source: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

DOI: 10.3390/jmse13122407

Authors: Se Hwan Park, Sang Gyu Cheon, Woo Chul Chung

Institution: Korea Maritime and Ocean University

Language: English

Topic: Ship Hydrodynamics and Maneuverability

Subfield: Ocean Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137

Funders: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology