Characteristics of breaking irregular wave forces on a monopile

The substructures of offshore wind turbines are subjected to extreme breaking irregular wave forces. The present study is focused on investigating breaking irregular wave forces on a monopile using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based numerical model. The breaking irregular wave forces on a monopile mounted on a slope are investigated with a numerical wave tank. The experimental and numerical irregular free surface elevations are compared in the frequency-domain for the different locations in the vicinity of the cylinder. A numerical analysis is performed for different wave steepness cases to understand the influence of wave steepness on the breaking irregular wave loads. The wave height transformation and energy level evolution during the wave shoaling and wave breaking processes is investigated. The higher-frequency components generated during the wave breaking process are observed to play a significant role in initiating the secondary force peaks. The free surface elevation skewness and spectral bandwidth during the wave transformation process are analysed and an investigation is performed to establish a correlation of these parameters with the breaking irregular wave forces. The role of the horizontal wave-induced water particle velocity at the free surface and free surface pressure in determining the breaking wave loads is highlighted. The higher-frequency components in the velocity and pressure spectrum are observed to be significant in influencing the secondary peaks in the breaking wave force spectrum.     

Temporal variation of modulated-wave-train geometries and their influence on vertical bending moments of a container ship

A towing experiment was conducted using a modulated wave train to investigate the vertical bending responses of a hydro-structural container ship model. In the experiment, a spatially periodic modulated wave train, as a model of a freak wave in successive high waves mimicking the so-called three sisters, was generated by the recently established higher-order spectral method wave generation (HOSM-WG) method. HOSM-WG enables us to control the location and timing of the maximum crest height in a wave tank. With precise control of the towing carriage, an experiment was conducted in which the timing of the encounters between the ship model and the modulated wave train was accurately determined. The maximum sagging moment (SM) was found to increase in proportion with the encounter wave height. However, because of differences in the relative depth of the fore and aft troughs, the maximum SM is highly variable for a given wave height. The temporal wave-geometry evolution caused the relative trough-depth to vary significantly within a wave period in the vicinity of the maximum crest height. As a result, depending on the encounter timing, the SM varied considerably for a given wave height. The temporal variation of the wave geometry is a robust feature of a modulated wave train and is common between the spatially periodic and temporally periodic modulated wave trains.     

CFD modelling of a small–scale fixed multi–chamber OWC device

Wave Energy Converters (WECs) have excellent potential as a source of renewable energy that is yet to be commercially realised. Recent attention has focused on the installation of Oscillating Water Column (OWC) devices as a part of harbor walls to provide advantages of cost–sharing structures and proximity of power generation facilities to existing infrastructure. In this paper, an incompressible three–dimensional CFD model is constructed to simulate a fixed Multi–Chamber OWC (MC–OWC) device. The CFD model is validated; the simulation results are found to be in good agreement with experimental results obtained from a scale physical model tested in a wave tank. The validated CFD model is then used for a benchmark study of 96 numerical tests. These investigate the effects of the PTO damping caused by the power take–off (PTO) system on device performance. The performance is assessed for a range of regular wave heights and periods. The results demonstrate that a PTO system with an intermediate damping can be used for all chambers in the MC–OWC device for most wave period ranges, except for the long wave periods. These require a higher PTO damping. An increased incident wave height reduces the device capture width ratio, but there is a noticeable improvement for long wave periods.     

Obtaining the distribution of quiescent periods directly from the power spectral densities of Sea waves

There is a growing practical interest in the ability to increase the sea states at which marine operations can be safely undertaken by exploiting the quiescent periods that are well known to exist under a wide range of sea conditions. While the actual prediction of quiescent periods at sea for the control of operations is a deterministic process, the long term planning of future maritime tasks that rely on these quiescent periods is a statistical process involving the anticipated quiescence properties of the forecasted sea conditions in the geographical region of interest. It is in principle possible to obtain such data in tabular form either large scale simulation or from field data. However, such simulations are computationally intensive and libraries of appropriate field data are not common. Thus, it is clearly attractive to develop techniques that exploit standard wave spectral models for describing the quiescence statistics directly from such spectra. The present study focuses upon such techniques and is a first step towards the production of a computationally low-cost quiescence prediction tool and compares its efficacy against simulations. Two significant properties emerge for a large class of wave spectral models that encompasses the ubiquitous Neumann and Pierson Moskowitz or Bretschneider forms. Firstly, the auto-correlation function of the wave profile that are required to produce the quiescence property can be obtained analytically in terms of standard special functions. This considerably reduces the computational cost making desktop computer-based planning tools a reality. Secondly, for each class of these parametric spectra, the probability of a given number of consecutive wave heights (normalised to the significant wave heights) less than some critical value is in fact independent of absolute wave height. Thus, for a broad class of practically interesting wave spectra all that is required to obtain the statistical distribution of the quiescent periods is simple rescaling.     

Wave energy conversion under constrained wave-by-wave impedance matching with amplitude and phase-match limits

This paper investigates an approach to limit the fullness of ‘tuning’ provided by wave-by-wave impedance matching control of wave energy devices in irregular waves. A single analytical formulation based on the Lagrange multiplier approach of Evans [1] is used to limit the velocity amplitude while also limiting the closeness of the phase match between velocity and exciting force. The paper studies the effect of the present technique in concurrently limiting the device velocity and the required control/actuation force. Time domain application requires wave-profile prediction, which here is based on a deterministic propagation model. Also examined in the time domain is the effect of possible violation of the displacement constraint, which for many designs implies impacts at hard stops within the power take-off mechanism. Time domain simulations are carried out for a 2-body axisymmetric converter (with physical end-stops) in sea states reported for a site off the US east coast. It is found that the approach leads to effective power conversion in the less energetic sea states, while as desired, considerable muting of the optimal response is found in the larger sea states. Under the assumptions of this work, the end-stop collisions are found to have a minor effect on the power conversion. The present approach could be used to guide the design of power take-off systems so that their displacement stroke, maximum force, and resistive and reactive power limits are well-matched to the achievable performance of a given controlled primary energy converter.     

Interaction mechanisms among waves,currents and a submerged plate

Wave-induced loads on a submerged plate, representative of submerged breakwater, coastal-bridge deck and a certain type of wave energy converter, in a uniform current are investigated in this study using fully nonlinear numerical wave tanks (NWTs) based on potential flow theory. The coupling effect of wave and current is explored, and the underlying interaction mechanisms of the hydrodynamic forces are described. The presence of a background current modifies the frequency dispersion. It produces changes of the water-surface elevation, and also has an effect on wave-induced loads. Depending on the nonlinearity, higher harmonic wave components are generated above the submerged plate. These contribute to the wave forces. It is found that the horizontal and the vertical force, hence the moment, are affected in the opposite way by the currents. The Doppler shifted effect dominates the vertical force and the moment on the plate. Whereas, the Doppler shifted effect and the generation of higher wave harmonics play opposite roles on the horizontal forces. The contribution of 2^nd order harmonics is found to be up to 30% of the linear component. The current-induced drag force, represented by the advection term ρU∂φ/∂x in the pressure equation, is found to lead to a decrease in the moment for the most range of wavelengths considered, and an increase in the moment for a small range of longer waves.     

南海东北部内潮的模态结构和传播

The evolution of energy, energy flux and modal structure of the internal tides(ITs) in the northeastern South China Sea is examined using the measurements at two moorings along a cross-slope section from the deep continental slope to the shallow continental shelf. The energy of both diurnal and semidiurnal ITs clearly shows a～14-day spring-neap cycle, but their phases lag that of barotropic tides, indicating that ITs are not generated on the continental slope. Observations of internal tidal energy flux suggest that they may be generated at the Luzon Strait and propagate west-northwest to the continental slope in the northwestern SCS. Because the continental slope is critical-supercritical with respect to diurnal ITs, about 4.6 kJ/m~2 of the incident energy and 8.7 kW/m of energy flux of diurnal ITs are reduced from the continental slope to the continental shelf. In contrast, the semidiurnal internal tides enter the shelf because of the sub-critical topography with respect to semidiurnal ITs.From the continental slope to the shelf, the vertical structure of diurnal ITs shows significant variation, with dominant Mode 1 on the deep slope and dominant higher modes on the shelf. On the contrary, the vertical structure of the semidiurnal ITs is stable, with dominant Mode 1.     

决口海堤水波传播模拟和分析研究Ⅱ:2D传播

应用经验证的SWASH数学模型,分析了海堤决口中心线沿线实测水深分布规律和保护区淹没水量与淹没面积。对不同特征水深进行验证,进而探讨不同波要素对不同形式的海堤决口堤后特征水深分布情况以及波浪传播距离与时间的关系;分析了物理模型试验中海堤决口宽度以及不同波要素对堤后洪水波演进的影响;计算了不同决口深度和宽度对洪水波传播的影响,建立堤后水体淹没水量和淹没面积分布公式。成果可供我国沿海城市和地区在风暴潮和台风浪作用下海堤决口风险图绘制参考。     

东亚季风涌对我国东部大尺度降水过程的影响分析

将NECP/NCAR资料中850 hPa纬向风分量进行30～60天带通滤波,用大气季节内振荡（ISO）来表征东亚夏季风涌的活动特征。研究表明,长江中下游地区和淮河流域分别出现涝年时,都伴有很显著的季风涌向北传播的特征。季风涌的北传实质就是季风中来自热带地区ISO的向北传播。季风涌北传过程中,得到来自东西两侧纬向传播的ISO补充。纬向传播的ISO在110°E～120°E附近汇合后增强自热带地区向北传的季风涌,使得季风涌在经向上可以继续向北传播,并对我国东部地区夏季大尺度降水过程产生一定的影响。纬向补充的ISO特征差异对我国东部大尺度降水位置会产生一定的差异。     

木本植被覆盖岸坡上波浪爬升过程的数值模拟研究

近岸木本植物构成的生态缓冲带作为新型的海岸软防护结构,兼具功能性和生态友好性,在沿海工程建设中愈发受到关注,如何深入开展其防护效果的机理研究是目前亟待解决的问题。本文采用数值模拟方法,在N-S方程中分别考虑树枝和树干的拖曳力影响,提出了木本植被作用下波浪沿斜坡爬升的表面波衰减的连续介质等效模型,并采用MAC法来跟踪自由曲面上的水颗粒轨迹。本文以波浪沿1/30的斜坡爬升为算例,对比讨论了有无植被作用下波浪的传播过程,并将算例结果与以往试验结果规律进行对照,验证了数值模型的有效性。最后,分别讨论了植物枝干的高度、密度、树枝倾斜角度等植被特性和波浪因素对植被消浪效果的影响,得到植被消浪的基本规律。文中的计算结果也可为实际的护岸工程和生态景观设计提供参考。