Abstract: | An approximate method is presented to estimate the hydrodynamic loading and associated structural response of each of a pair of free-standing, bottom-nounted, flexible circular cylinders subjected to a regular train of linear surface waves. The cylinders are aligned parallel to the incident wave direction and the response of each is assumed to be one-dimensional and governed by a beam equation. The solution technique for the fluid velocity potential involves replacing scattered waves by equivalent plane waves together with non-planar, first-correction terms, and can be shown to be a large-spacing approximation. Numerical results are presented which show the influence of the various wave and structural parameters on the hydrodynamic loading and dynamic response of the individual cylinders. |