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.     

海底输油管道底砂床冲刷机理研究

设计了海底输油管道水槽冲刷试验模型,研究了海底输油管道与砂床处于不同相对位置情况下床砂起动流速的变化,采用理想流体映射定理对其进行了理论分析,探讨起动流速变化规律。结合有限元数值模拟对试验进行细化分析,研究了海底管道底砂床砂粒起动的产生机理,根据研究结果将冲刷过程划分为五个阶段。阐明了海底管道暴露冲刷的危害性和实时监测的重要性。     

泉州湾海域海浪谱

本文根据福建泉州湾大量实测海浪谱资料,分析了该海域海浪内部结构特征,比较和检验了国内外常用的Ｐ－Ｍ谱、Ｊｏｎｓｗａｐ谱、规范谱及国内沿岸海区的一些经验谱,结果取了与本海区实测海浪个例谱结构接近程度最好的Ｊｏｎｓｗａｐ谱拟合泉州湾海浪谱模式。     

高度计波高数据同化对印度洋海域海浪模式预报影响研究

为提高海浪模式预报的精度,改善初始场是途径之一。研制了基于最优插值(OI)方法的海浪数据同化并行程序模块,并将其植入第三代海浪模式WAVEWATCH IIITM,建立了印度洋海域海浪同化预报方法,使用卫星高度计波高数据进行了同化预报试验。OI模块的并行设计使得植入同化模块的海浪模式仍能以并行方式运行。文中5°S以北印度洋海域为目标区域,嵌套在WAVE-WATCH IIITM的全球网格中,使得目标区域开边界条件得到较好解决。同化数据使用Jason-2高度计测量有效波高(SWH)沿轨数据。海浪同化预报模式由大气模式WRF(Weather Research andForecasting)输出的1小时一次的海面10 m风场驱动。将同化的模式结果(SWH)、无同化的模式结果(SWH)分别与高度计沿轨数据(SWH)进行比较,表明同化改善模式预报初始场的效果是明显的。以同化初始场出发进行海浪预报试验,结果表明,高度计波高数据同化在一定程度上可改进海浪短期预报的精度。     

Numerical simulation of random wave slamming on structures in the splash zone

The numerical investigation of random wave slamming on superstructures of marine structures in the splash zone is presented in this paper. The impact pressures on the underside of the structure are computed based on the improved volume of fluid method (VOF). The governing equations are Reynolds time-averaged equations and the two equation k– model. The third order upwind difference scheme is applied to the convection term to reduce the effect of numerical viscosity. The numerical wave flume with random wave-maker suitable for VOF is established. Appropriate moving contact-line boundary conditions are introduced to the model wave in contact with and separated from the underside of structure. Parametric studies have been carried out for different incident waves, structure dimensions and structure clearance. The numerical results are verified by the experimental results.     

The sheltering effect of the Balearic Islands in the hindcast wave field

The sheltering effect of the Balearic Islands in the hindcast wave field was studied for typical Mediterranean wave situations of Llevant, Tramuntana and Mestral and for mild conditions such as the Garbí and Ponent winds. For this purpose, a third generation wave model was applied to the Mediterranean Sea and different patterns of the sheltered areas were found for the various representative situations depending on the wind variability and on the magnitude of the wind speed. From the analysis it was concluded that the sheltered zones created during storms generally persist for short periods of time of the order of 6 h, possibly reaching a maximum of 12 h. In contrast with earlier results obtained for swell dominated ocean areas, it was observed that in this area, due to the short fetches the sea states are mainly local wind seas and thus the wave field behind the islands depends on the local wind.     

Deterministic non-linear wave prediction using probe data

The accurate prediction of non-linear sea states represents a great challenge, with a number of applications in oceanography, marine engineering, security of people and marine transportation, etc. In this paper, we report on the development of two efficient deterministic prediction models for 2D irregular wave-fields. These models are based on the exploitation of wave elevation time series given by one or more probes and on the use of two different numerical models for the wave-fields simulation. Two effective data assimilation processes are developed to improve the wave-field estimates obtained from the study of one or several probe signals, so that we obtain proper initial conditions for the forecast. The assimilation schemes have been validated on the reconstruction of model-generated observations and accurate predictions of the corresponding synthetic wave-fields evolution have been obtained.