ABSTRACT CTS-9408939 University of Hawaii Manoa P.I.: Kwok Cheung This project uses numerical and theoretical techniques to study the hydrodynamic response of a fluid membrane to gravity waves in order to understand fluid-membrane interaction. Fluid-filed membranes have various environmental applications, including use in breakwaters and temporary storage of contaminated water during site remediation or at times of flooding. In the modeling, and emphasis will be placed on solving problems related to large scale floating membrane systems. The static equilibrium configuration of the fluid filed membrane will first be calculated accounting for both large deformations and wrinkling of the membrane. The response of the filled membrane to waves will then be studied by a dynamic analysis that couples the finite element model with a boundary element technique. Available experimental results will be used to compare with simulations.
