A numerical model is developed to simulate fully nonlinear extreme waves in finite and infinite water-depth wave tanks. A semi-mixed Enlerian-Lagrangian formulation is adopted and a higher-order boundary element method in conjunction with an image Green function is used for the fluid domain. The botmdary values on the free surface are updated at each time step by a fourth-order Runga-Kutta time-marching scheme at each time step. Input wave characteristics are specified at the upstream boundary by an appropriate wave theory. At the downstream boundary, an artificial damping zone is used to prevent wave reflection back into the computational domain. Using the image Green function in the whole fluid domain, the integrations on the two lateral walls and bottom are excluded. The simulation results on extreme wave elevations in finite and infinite water-depths are compared with experimental results and second-order analytical solutions respectively. The wave kinematics is also discussed in the present study.
Based on the fifth-order Stokes regular wave theory, a simplified model for extreme-wave kinematics in deep sea was developed. In this model, from the wave records the average of two neighboring wave periods for the extreme crest or trough was defined as the period of the Stokes wave by the up and down zero-crossing methods. Then the input wave amplitude was deduced by substituting the wave period and extreme crest or trough into the expression for the fifth-order Stokes wave elevation. Thus the corresponding formula for the wave velocity can be used to describe kinematics beneath the extreme wave. By comparison with the published numerical models and experimental data, the proposed model is validated to be able to calculate the extreme wave velocity rather easily and accurately.
To study wave-current actions on 3-D bodies a time-domain numerical model was established using a higher-order boundary element method(HOBEM).By assuming small flow velocities,the velocity potential could be expressed for linear and higher order components by perturbation expansion.A 4th-order Runge-Kutta method was applied for time marching.An artificial damping layer was adopted at the outer zone of the free surface mesh to dissipate scattering waves.Validation of the numerical method was carried out on run-up,wave exciting forces,and mean drift forces for wave-currents acting on a bottom-mounted vertical cylinder.The results were in close agreement with the results of a frequency-domain method and a published time-domain method.The model was then applied to compute wave-current forces and run-up on a Seastar mini tension-leg platform.
A Time-domain Higher-Order Boundary Element Method（THOBEM） is developed for simulating wave-current interactions with 3-D floating bodies.Through a Taylor series expansion and a perturbation procedure,the model is formulated to the first-order in the wave steepness and in the current velocity,respectively.The boundary value problem is decomposed into a steady double-body flow problem and an unsteady wave problem.Higher-order boundary integral equation methods are then used to solve the proposed problems with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method for the time marching.An artificial damping layer is adopted to dissipate the scattering waves.Different from the other time-domain numerical models,which are often focused on the wave-current interaction with restrained bodies,the present model deals with a floating hemisphere.The numerical results of wave forces,wave run-up and body response are all in a close agreement with those obtained by frequency-domain methods.The proposed numerical model is further applied to investigate wave-current interactions with a floating body of complicated geometry.In this work,the regular and focused wave combined with current interacting with a truss-spar platform is investigated.
Based on the eigenfunction expansion technique, the wave generation by a piston wave maker in a wave flume with a partially reflecting end-wall is studied. The corresponding velocity potential and wave elevation in the flume are obtained. The present analytical solution is verified by the numerical results obtained from a time-domain higher-order boundary element method in a closed flume. Numerical experiments are further carried out to study the difference between the partial/full reflection boundary and the transmission boundary and the effects of the reflection coefficient and the motion period of the wave maker on the wave height. Meanwhile, the natural frequency of the wave flume can be obtained from the analytical expression. The resonance occurs when the motion frequency is equal to the natural frequency. Even the partial reflection of the end-wall in the wave flume experiments has a great influence on the wave height, therefore, inaccurate measurements would be resulted in long-time simulations, especially when the wave frequency approaches the wave flume natural frequency. The present study can serve as a guidance for the physical experiment in wave flumes.
