The aim of this paper is to investigate the wave-body interaction of flexible floating bodies by coupling RANS/CFD and Finite Element software. A combination of overset and morphing approaches and finite volume solution to allow for the motion of a barge at the free surface is used. Results are presented for the motion response of the three-dimensional (3-D) barge, treated both as rigid and flexible body, in regular head waves using STAR-CCM+, the latter carried out by a two-way coupling between Star-CCM+ and Abaqus. To illustrate this application, the structure of the flexible barge is modelled as a beam, in line with the flexible backbone model used in experiments. The RAOs of vertical displacements, at a number of positions along the barge, calculated using this coupling technique are compared against experimental measurements and two-dimensional (2-D) linear hydroelasticity predictions.
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