The prediction of the hydrodynamic loads acting on the wetted part of a solid impacting a
liquid free surface is an important issue for a number of industrial applications. For example,
information relating to the forces occurring during bottom slamming is important in the
design of bulbous bows of ships (Tanizawa et al., 2003) or very large floating structures
(Greco et al., 2009a,b). Impact load prediction is also relevant to the crashworthiness of
aircraft structures in emergency water landing conditions (Seddon and Moatamedi, 2006).