| Abstract: | The scattering of surface waves by a flexible fishnet is studied analytically. The fishnet is modelled as a porous flexible barrier displaced solely by hydrodynamic force like a catenary. The objective is to investigate how a flexible permeable barrier affects the passing waves in the way they are transmitted and reflected, as observed by the fact that the water inside a fishfarm surrounded by fishnets is significantly calmer than that outside. The boundary value problems are solved by defining the reflection coefficient in terms of velocity potential and then the full solutions are obtained by suitable application of the eigenfunction expansion method and the least squares approximation method. The variations of the reflection coefficient, hydrodynamic pressure, barrier deformation and surface wave elevation are determined with respect to the barrier length, porosity and stiffness. It is observed that as the fishnet gets more flexible, its deformation increases and the reflection coefficient decreases, whereas as the fishnet gets more porous, more water can pass through it and thus the reflection coefficient, barrier deformation and the hydrodynamic force are reduced. The flexibility of the barrier behaves like its porosity by allowing more wave energy to act on it through its deformation and hence reduce the reflection and hydrodynamic force of the incident waves acting on the barrier. |
