Laser doppler anemometer measurements of irregular water wave kinematics

The location of offshore structures for the purpose of recovering deep water resources has provided the impetus to more accurately predict forces acting on the structure so that costs can be minimized while the structure can safely withstand environmental forces. Accurate prediction of wave kinematics is a vital step in the more accurate prediction of environmental forces. In this study, a laser Doppler anemometer is used to measure the horizontal velocity under the largest wave occurring in an irregular sea generated in a laboratory wave tank. Specifically, JONSWAP and Pierson-Moskowitz wave spectra were generated in the wave tank and the horizontal velocity was measured at locations both above and below the still water level beneath the wave crest. The laboratory measured velocity values tend to lie between those predicted by linear extrapolation and Wheeler stretching. The results are not consistently predicted by either of the stretching methods, and therefore, it is not known which method will give a more accurate prediction before the data are measured.     

Measurements of higher harmonic wave forces on a vertical truncated circular cylinder

Wave forces on a vertical truncated circular cylinder in Stokes waves with the wave slopes ranging from 0.06 to 0.24, are measured in a wave tank. The higher harmonic wave forces are compared with the available values from theories of the FNV (Faltisen–Newman–Vinje) model and Varyani solution. The first harmonic horizontal forces measured are much larger than the theoretical values from the FNV model, while the first harmonic vertical forces are well predicted by the Varyani theory. It was also found that the FNV model significantly overpredicts the second harmonic horizontal forces in high frequency waves, but under predicts the third harmonic forces. The differences between the actual measurement and the theory, in the second and third harmonic horizontal forces, become smaller at low wave frequencies as the wave slope increases. In addition, the transverse instabilities in the incoming waves with high wave slope were observed, which is due to the nonlinear modulation. Measurements were, thus, carried out before the instability occurred.     

Nonlinear wave interaction with a vertical circular cylinder. Part II: Wave run-up

Theoretical results for second-order wave run-up around a large diameter vertical circular cylinder are compared to results of 22 laboratory experiments conducted in regular nonlinear waves. In general, the second-order theory explains a significant portion of the nonlinear wave run-up distribution measured at all angles around the cylinder. At the front of the cylinder, for example, measured maximum run-up exceeds linear theory by 44% on average but exceeds the nonlinear theory by only 11% on average. In some cases, both measured run-up and the second-order theory exceed the linear prediction by more than 50%. Similar results are found at the rear of the cylinder where the second-order theory predicts a large increase in wave amplitude for cases where the linear diffraction theory predicts little or no increase. Overall, the nonlinear diffraction theory is found to be valid for the same relative depth and wave steepness conditions applicable to Stokes second-order plane-wave theory. In the last section of the paper, design curves are presented for estimating the maximum second-order wave run-up for a wide range of conditions in terms of the relative depth, relative cylinder size, and wave steepness.     

Spectral Analysis of Nonlinear Drag Forces

The spectral properties of nonlinear drag forces of random waves on vertical circular cylinders are analyzed in this paper by means of nonlinear spectral analysis. The analysis provides basic parameters for estimation of the characteristic drag forces. Numerical computation is also performed for the investigation of the effects of nonlinearity of the drag forces.The results indicate that the wave drag forces calculated by linear wave theory are larger than those calculated by the third order Stokes wave theory for given waves. The difference between them increases with wave height. The wave drag forces calculated by use of hnear approximation are about 5% smaller than their actual values when measured in the peak values of spectral densities. This will result in a safety problem for the design of offshore structures. Therefore, the nonlinear effect of wave drag forces should be taken into comidemtion in design and application of important offshore structures.     

Free-surface evolution and wave kinematics for nonlinear uni-directional focused wave groups

This paper concerns the propagation of transient wave groups, focused at a point in time and space to produce locally large waves having a range of steepness. The experimental study was carried out in a wave flume at Dalian University of Technology. The numerical simulations were based on a nonlinear boundary integral equation solved by a higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM). Rather than simulate the whole experimental tank, local surface elevation measurements were used to drive the numerical solution from a point less than two wavelengths upstream of the focus position, leading to significant savings in computational time. Excellent agreement is achieved between the water surface elevations and the water particle kinematics measured in the experiments and those predicted numerically at wave group focus, even for near-breaking waves up to a steepness of kA=0.405 for which even locally matched 2nd-order theory is inadequate. Results based on the linear and 2nd-order theory are also presented in the comparisons. When compared with the first- and 2nd-order solutions, the fully nonlinear wave–wave interactions produce a steeper wave envelope in which the central wave crest is higher and narrower, while the adjacent wave troughs are broader and less deep.     

Generation and propagation of transient nonlinear waves in a wave flume

A semi-analytical nonlinear wavemaker model is derived to predict the generation and propagation of transient nonlinear waves in a wave flume. The solution is very efficient and is achieved by applying eigenfunction expansions and FFT. The model is applied to study the effect of the wavemaker and its motion on the generation and propagation of nonlinear waves. The results indicate that the linear wavemaker theory may be applied to predict only the generation of waves of low steepness for which the nonlinear terms in the kinematic wavemaker boundary condition and free-surface boundary conditions are of secondary importance. For waves of moderate steepness and steep waves these nonlinear terms have substantial effects on wave profile and wave spectrum just after the wavemaker. A wave spectrum corresponding to a sinusoidally moving wavemaker possesses a multi-peak form with substantial nonlinear components, which disturbs or may even exclude physical modeling in wave flumes. The analysis shows that the widely recognized weakly nonlinear wavemaker theory may only be applied to describe the generation and propagation of waves of low steepness. This is subject to further restrictions in shallow and deep waters because the kinematic wavemaker boundary condition as well as the nonlinear interaction of wave components and the evolution of wave energy spectrum is not properly described by weakly nonlinear wavemaker theory. Laboratory experiments were conducted in a wave flume to verify the nonlinear wavemaker model. The comparisons show a reasonable agreement between predicted and measured free-surface elevation and the corresponding amplitudes of Fourier series. A reasonable agreement between theoretical results and experimental data is observed even for fairly steep waves.     

Nonlinear Wave Force on Pier Group in Shallow Water

Based on the 1st order cnoidal wave theory, the wave diffraction around the pier group inshallow water is studied in this paper. The formulas for calculating the nonlinear wave forces are also presented here. In order to verify the theoretical results, model tests are conducted in the wave flume in The State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering located in Dalian University of Technology. The range of the wave parameters in the experiments is characteristic wave period T g/d~(1/2) = 8.08- 22.86, characteristic wave height H/ d= 0.1 ~ 0.45. The results obtained from the experiments agree with the theoretical results quite well. It is shown that, in shallow water the nonlinear wave forces acting on a pier group are greater than those calculated by linear wave theory, the value of increment in wave force increases with the increases of the nonlinearity of the wave. In the wave range studied in this paper, the nonlinear wave force can reach over 4 times the force calculatecd by linear wave theory. Thus, it is suggested that, when Tg / d~(1/2)> 8, the wave force on the piers in the pier group in shallow water should be calculated by using the cnoidal wave theory.     

Nonlinear effect on inertia component of wave forces on a cylinder

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Effect of wave nonlinearity on fatigue damage and extreme responses of a semi-submersible floating wind turbine

Floating wind turbine has been the highlight in offshore wind industry lately. There has been great effort on developing highly sophisticated numerical model to better understand its hydrodynamic behaviour. A engineering-practical method to study the nonlinear wave effects on floating wind turbine has been recently developed. Based on the method established, the focus of this paper is to quantify the wave nonlinearity effect due to nonlinear wave kinematics by comparing the structural responses of floating wind turbine when exposed to irregular linear Airy wave and fully nonlinear wave. Critical responses and fatigue damage are studied in operational conditions and short-term extreme values are predicted in extreme conditions respectively. In the operational condition, wind effects are dominating the mean value and standard deviation of most responses except floater heave motion. The fatigue damage at the tower base is dominated by wind effects. The fatigue damage for the mooring line is more influenced by wind effects for conditions with small wave and wave effects for conditions with large wave. The wave nonlinearity effect becomes significant for surge and mooring line tension for large waves while floater heave, pitch motion, tower base bending moment and pontoon axial force are less sensitive to the nonlinear wave effect. In the extreme condition, linear wave theory underestimates wave elevation, floater surge motion and mooring line tension compared with fully nonlinear wave theory while quite close results are predicted for other responses.     

Expected fatigue damage and expected extreme response for Morison-type wave loading

Non-linear probability distributions for Morison-type wave loading are used to indicate the effect of drag forces on the expected fatigue damage and the expected extreme response of quasi-statically responding (members of) offshore structures. Results are compared with those from commonly used equivalent linear methods of analysis. It is found that the expected fatigue damage and the expected extreme response based on non-linear methods are approximately equal to results from linear methods when inertia is the dominant force. However, in the event of the drag forces forming a considerable part of the total wave loading, both fatigue damage and extreme response can significantly exceed those predicted by linear methods. The difference between the two methods is quantified in terms of a drag-inertia parameter, which is directly related to the sea state under consideration.     

Wind-wave power available to a wave energy converter array

A theoretical expression of the wave power striking a rectilinear array of wave energy convertion devices in a random sea is derived. The theory is then applied to a linear array which is 1 km in length. For purposes of illustration, the Pierson-Neumann-James directional spectrum is used to represent the random sea. Comparison of the results obtained by using the present theory with those obtained from the previously accepted theory shows significant differences. First, the maximum available power predicted by the present theory is 75% of that predicted by the former theory. Secondly, power transmission is predicted when the wind direction and the array axis are parallel, whereas no power transmission was formerly predicted for this condition.     

Comparison of wave load effects on a TLP wind turbine by using computational fluid dynamics and potential flow theory approaches

Tension Leg Platform (TLP) is one of the concepts which shows promising results during initial studies to carry floating wind turbines. One of the concerns regarding tension leg platform wind turbines (TLPWTs) is the high natural frequencies of the structure that may be excited by nonlinear waves loads. Since Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models are capable of capturing nonlinear wave loads, they can lead to better insight about this concern. In the current study, a CFD model based on immersed boundary method, in combination with a two-body structural model of TLPWT is developed to study wave induced responses of TLPWT in deep water. The results are compared with the results of a potential flow theory-finite element software, SIMO-RIFLEX (SR). First, the CFD based model is described and the potential flow theory based model is briefly introduced. Then, a grid sensitivity study is performed and free decay tests are simulated to determine the natural frequencies of different motion modes of the TLPWT. The responses of the TLPWT to regular waves are studied, and the effects of wave height are investigated. For the studied wave heights which vary from small to medium amplitude (wave height over wavelength less than 0.071), the results predicted by the CFD based model are generally in good agreement with the potential flow theory based model. The only considerable difference is the TLPWT mean surge motion which is predicted higher by the CFD model, possibly because of considering the nonlinear effects of the waves loads and applying these loads at the TLPWT instantaneous position in the CFD model. This difference does not considerably affect the important TLPWT design driving parameters such as tendons forces and tower base moment, since it only affects the mean dynamic position of TLPWT. In the current study, the incoming wave frequency is set such that third-harmonic wave frequency coincides with the first tower bending mode frequency. However, for the studied wave conditions a significant excitation of tower natural frequency is not observed. The high stiffness of tendons which results in linear pitch motion of TLPWT hull (less than 0.02 degrees) and tower (less than 0.25 degrees) can explain the limited excitement of the tower first bending mode. The good agreement between CFD and potential flow theory based results for small and medium amplitude waves gives confidence to the proposed CFD based model to be further used for hydrodynamic analysis of floating wind turbines in extreme ocean conditions.     

A second order random wave model for predicting the power performances of a wave energy converter

The power performances of a point absorber wave energy converter(WEC) operating in a nonlinear multidirectional random sea are rigorously investigated. The absorbed power of the WEC Power-Take-Off system has been predicted by incorporating a second order random wave model into a nonlinear dynamic filter. This is a new approach, and, as the second order random wave model can be utilized to accurately simulate the nonlinear waves in an irregular sea, avoids the inaccuracies resulting from using a first order linear wave model in the simulation process. The predicted results have been systematically analyzed and compared, and the advantages of using this new approach have been convincingly substantiated.     

Probability distribution of random wave forces in weakly nonlinear random waves

Based on the second-order random wave theory, the joint statistical distribution of the horizontal velocity and acceleration is derived using the characteristic function expansion method. From the joint distribution and the Morison equation, the theoretical distributions of drag forces, inertia forces and total random wave forces are determined. The distribution of inertia forces is Gaussian as that derived using the linear wave model, whereas the distributions of drag forces and total random forces deviate slightly from those derived utilizing the linear wave model. It is found that the distribution of wave forces depends solely on the frequency spectrum of sea waves associated with the first order approximation and the second order wave–wave interaction.     

Freely floating-body simulation by a 2D fully nonlinear numerical wave tank

Nonlinear interactions between large waves and freely floating bodies are investigated by a 2D fully nonlinear numerical wave tank (NWT). The fully nonlinear 2D NWT is developed based on the potential theory, MEL/material-node time-marching approach, and boundary element method (BEM). A robust and stable 4th-order Runge–Kutta fully updated time-integration scheme is used with regriding (every time step) and smoothing (every five steps). A special φ_n-η type numerical beach on the free surface is developed to minimize wave reflection from end-wall and wave maker. The acceleration-potential formulation and direct mode-decomposition method are used for calculating the time derivative of velocity potential. The indirect mode-decomposition method is also independently developed for cross-checking. The present fully nonlinear simulations for a 2D freely floating barge are compared with the corresponding linear results, Nojiri and Murayama’s (Trans. West-Jpn. Soc. Nav. Archit. 51 (1975)) experimental results, and Tanizawa and Minami’s (Abstract for the 6th Symposium on Nonlinear and Free-surface Flow, 1998) fully nonlinear simulation results. It is shown that the fully nonlinear results converge to the corresponding linear results as incident wave heights decrease. A noticeable discrepancy between linear and fully nonlinear simulations is observed near the resonance area, where the second and third harmonic sway forces are even bigger than the first harmonic component causing highly nonlinear features in sway time series. The surprisingly large second harmonic heave forces in short waves are also successfully reproduced. The fully updated time-marching scheme is found to be much more robust than the frozen-coefficient method in fully nonlinear simulations with floating bodies. To compare the role of free-surface and body-surface nonlinearities, the body-nonlinear-only case with linearized free-surface condition was separately developed and simulated.     

Comparison of linear and nonlinear extreme wave statistics

An extremely large (“freak”) wave is a typical though rare phenomenon observed in the sea. Special theories (for example, the modulation instability theory) were developed to explain mechanics and appearance of freak waves as a result of nonlinear wave-wave interactions. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the freak wave appearance can be also explained by superposition of linear modes with the realistic spectrum. The integral probability of trough-to-crest waves is calculated by two methods: the first one is based on the results of the numerical simulation of a wave field evolution performed with one-dimensional and two-dimensional nonlinear models. The second method is based on calculation of the same probability over the ensembles of wave fields constructed as a superposition of linear waves with random phases and the spectrum similar to that used in the nonlinear simulations. It is shown that the integral probabilities for nonlinear and linear cases are of the same order of values     

On non-linear wave interaction with cylindrical bodies: a vortex sheet approach

An alternative, relatively straightforward, method is presented for calculating non-linear, two-dimensional wave interaction with submerged bodies. The free surface is represented by a vortex sheet and the body surface by a source sheet in a time-stepping procedure with the limitation that overtopping may not occur. Errors inherent in the method are assessed. For starting flow over a circular cylinder with diameter up to at least half a wavelength, the surface profiles local to the cylinder closely approximate those for longer times after only one period. By this time forces, for waves of even moderate steepness, have settled down to values predicted by analytical linear theory. A good approximation to effects associated with wave trains of infinite extent may thus be obtained by simulating a fairly limited space (several wavelengths).     

Linear and nonlinear irregular waves and forces in a numerical wave tank

A time-domain higher-order boundary element scheme was utilized to simulate the linear and nonlinear irregular waves and diffractions due to a structure. Upon the second-order irregular waves with four Airy wave components being fed through the inflow boundary, the fully nonlinear boundary problem was solved in a time-marching scheme. The open boundary was modeled by combining an absorbing beach and the stretching technique. The proposed numerical scheme was verified by simulating the linear regular and irregular waves. The scheme was further applied to compute the linear and nonlinear irregular wave diffraction forces acting on a vertical truncated circular cylinder. The nonlinear results were also verified by checking the accuracy of the nonlinear simulation.     

V形防波堤与圆弧型防波堤之浅水波绕射作用的比较

应用椭圆余弦波的绕射理论,推导了V形防波堤的浅水波浪绕射解析解,从而对现有的Airy微幅波理论进行了有效拓展。据此理论对V形防波堤的浅水波绕射作用进行了解析计算,并与几何形状相近的圆弧型防波堤结果加以了对比。结果表明：椭圆余弦波理论计算的V形防波堤最大波浪力和最大绕射波面明显大于微幅波理论的对应值。本方法适用于张角180°的有限长直立薄壁防波堤的浅水波绕射作用计算,从而将无限长直立薄壁堤的反射波理论加以有效拓展。张角同为120°的V形堤与圆弧堤的堤后防浪效果相近,而180°圆弧堤的堤后防浪效果优于张角90°的V形堤。     

Nonlinear wave loads on a vertical cylinder

Nonlinear contributions due to elevation of the free surface, the dynamic head, and the second-order velocity potential on the wave loads are presented in closed-form expressions. Such nonlinearities resulting from large-amplitude ocean waves are associated with the irrotational flow interacting with a fixed bottom-mounted vertical cylinder piercing the surface. These are expressed in the form of dynamic, waterline and quadratic forces all of which depend on the square of the wave amplitude. The appropriate modifications are made to both the classical Morison equation and the well-known linear diffraction theory of MacCamy and Fuchs for accounting the second-order effects.A limited comparative study is performed to verify the present theoretical derivations. In general, satisfactory agreements have been obtained with the test results from various laboratory studies by different researchers. However, under certain environmental conditions, some discrepancies still exist with the measured results.