Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2006
A linear approximation for surface-wave radiation by two adjacent slender bodies is derived and compared with a three-dimensional numerical method. The approximation incorporates slender-body theory for a single body and accounts for wave interaction between the bodies. It is assumed that the distance between the bodies is on the order of their lengths. The far-field disturbance due to each body is obtained by distributing wave sources and dipoles on its centreline and solving a pair of coupled integral equations for their strengths and moments respectively. The hydrodynamic added-mass and damping coefficients are then calculated from simple expressions involving the source strengths and the hydrodynamic coefficients of each body separately. Wave exciting forces are also calculated from a far-field reciprocity relation. The approximation performs well even when the separation distance is comparable to the characteristic transverse dimension of each body.