Abstract
A set of equations of motion is derived for vibratory motions of an underwater cable connected to a moving vehicle at one end and with drogues at the other end. From the static analysis, cable configurations are obtained for different vehicle speeds and towing pretensions are determined by fluid resistance of drogues. Also the dynamic analysis is required to predict its vibratory motion. Nonlinear fluid drag forces greatly influence the dynamic tension. In this study, a numerical analysis program was developed to find out the characteristic of cable behaviour. The motion is described in terms of space and time coordinates based on Chebyshev polynomial expansions. For the spatial integration the collocation method is employed and the Newmark method is applied for the time integration. Dynamic tensions, displacements, velocities, accelerations were predicted in the time domain while natural frequencies and transfer functions were obtained in the frequency domain.
