A Comparative Study of Wave Breaking Models in a High-Order Spectral Model

Author(s):  
Betsy R. Seiffert ◽  
Guillaume Ducrozet

We examine the implementation of two different wave breaking models into the nonlinear potential flow solver HOS-NWT. HOS-NWT is a computationally efficient, open source code that solves for surface elevation in a numerical wave tank using the High-Order Spectral (HOS) method [1]. The first model is a combination of a kinematic wave breaking onset criteria proposed by Barthelemey, et al. [2] and validated by Saket, et al. [3], and an energy dissipation mechanism proposed by Tian, et al. [4, 5]. The wave breaking onset parameter is based on the ratio of local energy flux velocity to the local crest velocity. Once breaking is initiated, an eddy viscosity parameter is estimated based on the pre-breaking local wave geometry, as described in [4, 5]. This eddy viscosity is then added as a diffusion term to the kinematic and dynamic free surface boundary conditions for the duration of wave breaking. Results implementing this wave breaking mechanism in HOS-NWT have shown that the model can successfully calculate the surface elevation and corresponding frequency spectra, as well as the energy dissipation associated with breaking waves [6–8]. The second model implemented to account for wave breaking in HOS-NWT is based on the method proposed by Chalikov, et al. [9–11]. This model defines wave breaking onset by the curvature of the water surface and defines the wave as broken if it exceeds a certain value. A diffusion term is added to the kinematic and dynamic free surface boundary conditions which dissipates energy based on the local curvature of the water surface, which is consequently not constant in space nor time. Calculations made using the two models are compared with large scale experimental measurements conducted at the Hydrodynamics, Energetics and Atmospheric Environment Lab (LHEEA) at Ecole Centrale de Nantes. Comparison of calculations with measurements suggest that both models are successful at predicting wave breaking onset and energy dissipation. However, the model proposed by Barthelemy, et al. [2] and Tian, et al. [4] can be applied without knowing anything about the breaking waves a priori, whereas the model proposed by Chalikov [9] requires tuning to specific conditions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 103717
Author(s):  
Nikta Iravani ◽  
Peyman Badiei ◽  
Maurizio Brocchini

Author(s):  
Aichun Feng ◽  
Zhi-Min Chen ◽  
W. G. Price

A Rankine source method with a continuous desingularized free surface source panel distribution is developed to solve numerically a wave–body interaction problem with nonlinear boundary conditions. A body undergoes forced oscillatory motion in a free water surface and the variation of wetted body surface is captured by a regridding process. Free surface sources are placed in continuous panels, rather than points in isolation, over the calm water surface, with free surface collocation points placed on the calm water surface. Nonlinear kinematic and dynamic free surface boundary conditions along the collocation points on the calm water surface are solved in a time domain simulation based on a Lagrange time dependent formulation. Compared with isolated desingularized source points distribution methods, a significantly reduced number of free surface collocation points with sparse distribution are utilized in the present numerical computation. The numerical scheme of study is shown to be computationally efficient and the accuracy of numerical solutions is compared with traditional numerical methods as well as measurements.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Bihs ◽  
Weizhi Wang ◽  
Tobias Martin ◽  
Arun Kamath

Abstract In situations where the calculation of ocean wave propagation and impact on offshore structures is required, fast numerical solvers are desired in order to find relevant wave events in a first step. After the identification of the relevant events, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based Numerical Wave Tanks (NWT) with an interface capturing two-phase flow approach can be used to resolve the complex wave structure interaction, including breaking wave kinematics. CFD models emphasize detail of the hydrodynamic physics, which makes them not the ideal candidate for the event identification due to the large computational resources involved. In the current paper a new numerical wave model is represented that solves the Laplace equation for the flow potential and the nonlinear kinematic and dynamics free surface boundary conditions. This approach requires reduced computational resources compared to CFD based NWTs. In contrast to existing approaches, the resulting fully nonlinear potential flow solver REEF3D::FNPF uses a σ-coordinate grid for the computations. Solid boundaries are incorporated through a ghost cell immersed boundary method. The free surface boundary conditions are discretized using fifth-order WENO finite difference methods and the third-order TVD Runge-Kutta scheme for time stepping. The Laplace equation for the potential is solved with Hypres stabilized bi-conjugated gradient solver preconditioned with geometric multi-grid. REEF3D::FNPF is fully parallelized following the domain decomposition strategy and the MPI communication protocol. The model is successfully tested for wave propagation benchmark cases for shallow water conditions with variable bottom as well as deep water.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-296
Author(s):  
R. E. Baddour ◽  
W. Parsons

We are studying numerically the problem of generation and propagation of long-crested gravity waves in a tank containing an incompressible inviscid homogeneous fluid initially at rest with a horizontal free surface of finite extent and of infinite depth. A nonorthogonal curvilinear coordinate system, which follows the free surface, is constructed and the full nonlinear kinematic and dynamic free surface boundary conditions are utilized in the algorithm. “Wavemakers” are modeled using both the Dirichlet and Neumann lateral boundary conditions and a full comparison is given. Overall, the Dirichlet model was more stable than the Neumann model, with an upper limit steepness S=2A/λ of 0.08 using good resolution compared with the Neumann’s maximum of 0.05.


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