Numerical simulation of nonlinear wave radiation by a moving vertical cylinder

In this paper the fully nonlinear potential model based on a finite element method is used to investigate the nonlinear wave motion around a moving circular cylinder. The results for the cylinder in transient motion are compared with the experimental data and a much better agreement than the linear theory is found. Further simulation for a circular cylinder in sinusoidal motion is made. It is found that when the ratio of the cylinder diameter D to the wavelength L is relatively small at a fixed motion amplitude the nonlinear components of the runup on the cylinder surface at the second- and third-harmonic frequencies become more important and this is confirmed by the experimental data. Results for the hydrodynamic force are also provided for a cylinder oscillating in a channel. It is noticed that when the frequency of the cylinder motion in a channel is between the first and the second natural frequencies of the symmetric mode, the time history has components not only at the frequency of the cylinder motion but also at the first natural frequency. The latter remains significant over the period that the simulation is made. This has important implications to model testing. If measurement is to be made at such a frequency it may take long time for the motion to become periodic at the frequency of the cylinder motion.