scholarly journals MEASUREMENT OF INCIDENT WAVE HEIGHT IN COMPOSITE WAVE TRAINS

1974 ◽  
Vol 1 (14) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Ake Sandstrom

A method is proposed for measurement of the incident wave height in a composite wave train. The composite wave train is assumed to consist of a superposition of regular incident and reflected waves with the same wave period. An approximate value of the incident wave height is obtained as the arithmetic mean of the wave heights measured "by two gauges separated a quarter of a wave length. The accuracy of the method in relation to the location of the gauges and the wave parameters is investigated using linear and second order wave theory. Results of the calculations are presented in diagrams.

1984 ◽  
Vol 1 (19) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Behnke ◽  
Frederic Raichlen

An extensive program of stability experiments in a highly detailed three-dimensional model has recently been completed to define a reconstruction technique for a damaged breakwater (Lillevang, Raichlen, Cox, and Behnke, 1984). Tests were conducted with both regular waves and irregular waves from various directions incident upon the breakwater. In comparison of the results of the regular wave tests to those of the irregular wave tests, a relation appeared to exist between breakwater damage and the accumulated energy to which the structure had been exposed. The energy delivered per wave is defined, as an approximation, as relating to the product of H2 and L, where H is the significant height of a train of irregular waves and L is the wave length at a selected depth, calculated according to small amplitude wave theory using a wave period corresponding to the peak energy of the spectrum. As applied in regular wave testing, H is the uniform wave height and L is that associated with the period of the simple wave train. The damage in the model due to regular waves and that caused by irregular waves has been related through the use of the cumulative wave energy contained in those waves which have an energy greater than a threshold value for the breakwater.


1976 ◽  
Vol 1 (15) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udo Berger ◽  
Soren Kohlhase

As under oblique wave approach water waves are reflected by a vertical wall, a wave branching effect (stem) develops normal to the reflecting wall. The waves progressing along the wall will steep up. The wave heights increase up to more than twice the incident wave height. The £jtudy has pointed out that this effect, which is usually called MACH-REFLECTION, is not to be taken as an analogy to gas dynamics, but should be interpreted as a diffraction problem.


1977 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Minzoni ◽  
G. B. Whitham

The excitation of standing edge waves of frequency ½ω by a normally incident wave train of frequency ω has been discussed previously (Guza & Davis 1974; Guza & Inman 1975; Guza & Bowen 1976) on the basis of shallow-water theory. Here the problem is formulated in the full water-wave theory without making the shallow-water approximation and solved for beach angles β = π/2N, where N is an integer. The work confirms the shallow-water results in the limit N [Gt ] 1, shows the effect of larger beach angles and allows a more complete discussion of some aspects of the problem.


1982 ◽  
Vol 1 (18) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Yu-Cheng Li ◽  
John B. Herbich

The interaction of a gravity wave with a steady uniform current is described in this paper. Numerical calculations of the wave length change by different non-linear wave theories show that errors in the results computed by the linear wave theory are less than 10 percent within the range of 0.15 < d/Ls s 0.40, 0.01 < Hs/Ls < 0.07 and -0.15 < U/Cs i 0.30. Numerical calculations of wave height change employing different wave theories show that errors in the results obtained by the linear wave theory in comparison with the non-linear theories are greater when the opposing relative current and wave steepness become larger. However, within range of the following currents such errors will not be significant. These results were verified by model tests. Nomograms for the modification of wave length and wave height by the linear wave theory and Stokes1 third order theory are presented for a wide range of d/Ls, Hs/Ls and U/C. These nomograms provide the design engineer with a practical guide for estimating wave lengths and heights affected by currents.


Author(s):  
Hidetaka Houtani ◽  
Yusuke Komoriyama ◽  
Sadaoki Matsui ◽  
Masayoshi Oka ◽  
Hiroshi Sawada ◽  
...  

Abstract We experimentally investigated the influence of the geometries of a modulated wave train on the vertical-bending and torsional moments acting on a container ship in bow-quartering sea conditions. We conducted a towing experiment with a hydro-structural container ship model in the Actual Sea Model Basin (ASMB) (80 m deep, 40 m wide, and 4.5 m deep) at the National Maritime Research Institute. The ship model is made of urethane foam and was designed to have similar vertical bending and torsional vibration mode shapes to an actual ship. A modulated wave train was generated in the ASMB by the higher-order spectral-method wave generation (HOSM-WG) method such that the maxim crest appeared at the center of the basin. The ship model was towed in the modulated wave train with a relative heading angle of 120 degrees. A series of tests was performed by varying the encounter timing of the ship model and the maximum crest of the modulated wave train. In the experiment, fiber-Bragg-grating strain gauges successfully measured whipping vibrations of the ship model due to a slamming impact. The experimental results revealed that the rear wave height Hr and the ratio of the rear and front wave heights Hr/Hf were the dominant parameters governing the maximum sagging and torsional moments of a ship in bow-quartering modulated wave trains.


For a train of gravity waves of finite amplitude in a frame of reference in which they are stationary, it is suggested that, in addition to the volume flow per unit span Q and the total head R , one may usefully study a third constant S , the rate of flow of horizontal momentum(corrected for pressure force, and divided by the density). The values of Q , R and S probably determine the wave-train uniquely; this is proved explicitly for long waves in a new presenta­tion of the ‘cnoidal wave’ theory (§3). The combinations of Q , R and S which are possible in the general case are illustrated by a diagram (figure 2) in which the co-ordinates are r = R / R c and s = S / S c ; here suffix c refers to ‘critical’ flow at the volume rate Q . There are two barriers on this diagram beyond which no stationary waves, or other steady flows, are possible; at the left-hand barrier (corresponding to uniform subcritical flows) the amplitude tends to zero; at the right-hand barrier (corresponding to uniform supercritical flows) the wave-length tends to infinity (case of the solitary wave). The diagram needs to be completed by a third barrier corresponding to ‘waves of greatest height’. This starts at the point marked Z and moves to infinity within the unshaded region without ever intersecting the left-hand barrier. The diagram may be used to determine what losses of momentum and energy a given stream can undergo, without departing from the condition of steady flow. Thus, one can determine the maximum wave resistance on a cylindrical obstacle athwart a given subcritical stream, or on a two-dimensional ‘step’ in the bed, in the absence of energy dissipation. Again, one can study the transition to a wave-train behind a bore. Such a wave-train (present in all but very strong bores) is shown to be capable of absorbing almost the whole energy which according to classical theory is liberated at the bore, although some minute residual dissipation of energy still appears to be necessary.


2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
J. W. Johnson

Wave diffraction is the phenomenon in which water waves are propagated into a sheltered region formed by a breakwater or similar barrier which interrupts a portion of a regular wave train (Fig. 1). The principles of diffraction have considerable practical application in connection with the design of breakwaters as discussed by Dunham (1951) at the Long Beach Conference. The phenomenon is analogous to the diffraction of light, sound, and electromagnetic waves. Two general types of diffraction problems usually are encountered: one, the passage of waves around the end of a semi-infinite impermeable breakwater (Putnam and Arthur, 1948), and, second, the passage of waves through a gap in a breakwater (Blue and Johnson, 1949t Carr and Stelzriede, 1951). In general, the theoretical solutions have been found to apply with conservative results, that is, the predicted wave heights in the lee of a breakwater are found to be slightly larger than the height of waves that may be expected under actual conditions. The use of the diffraction theory in breakwater design is made convenient when summarized in the form of diagrams with curves of equal values of diffraction coefficients on a coordinate system in which the origin of the Bystem is at the tip of a single breakwater (Figs. 2a-2b, and 3) or at the center of a gap (Figs. 2c, and 4-6). The diffraction coefficient in this instance is defined as the ratio of the diffracted wave height to the incident wave height and usually is designated by the symbol K». The procedure in preparing diffraction diagrams appears elsewhere (Johnson, 1950). The purpose of this paper is to present diffraction diagrams to supplement the material of Dunham (1951). For complete details on the application of diffraction diagrams to typical harbor problems the reader is referred to this latter paper.


1974 ◽  
Vol 1 (14) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Uygur Sendil ◽  
W.H. Graf

Theoretical solutions for the transmission beyond and reflection of waves from fixed and floating plates are based upon linear wave theory, as put forth by John (1949), and Stoker (1957), according to which the flow is irrotational, the fluid is incompressible and frictionless, and the waves are of small amplitude. The resulting theoretical relations are rather complicated, and furthermore, it is assumed that the water depth is very small in comparison to the wave length. Wave transmissions beyond floating horizontal plates are studied in a laboratory wave flume. Regular (harmonic) waves of different heights and periods are generated. The experiments are carried out over a range of wave heights from 0.21 to 8.17 cm (0.007 to 0.268 ft), and wave periods from 0.60 to 4.00 seconds in water depth of 15.2, 30.5, and 45.7 cm (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 ft). Floating plates of 61, 91 and 122 cm (2, 3 and 4 ft) long were used. From the analyses of regular waves it was found that: (1) the transmission coefficients, H /H , obtained from the experiments are usually less than those obtained from the theory. This is due to the energy dissipation by the plate, which is not considered in the theory. (2) John's (1949) theory predicts the transmission coefficients, H /H , reasonably well for a floating plywood plate, moored to the bottom and under the action of non-breaking incident waves of finite amplitude. (3) a floating plate is less effective in damping the incident waves than a fixed plate of the same length.


Author(s):  
Ali Mohtat ◽  
Solomon C. Yim ◽  
Alfred R. Osborne ◽  
Ming Chen

Prediction of extreme wave heights has always been a challenge in both the naval and energy industries. The survivability and safe operation and design of marine vehicles and devices are highly dependent on the probability distribution of the wave heights of extreme waves. In traditional linear approaches, researchers use various probability distribution functions mostly generated from field measurements and are usually modified with some statistical methods to account for the distribution of wave heights. These approaches do not take into account nonlinearity and instability in wave train behavior and solely relies on linear wave theory assumptions and perhaps some second order effects in more advanced probability models. This study emphasizes the application of modulation wavelengths and periods, resulting from modulational instability analysis of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS). In this study, state-of-the-art nonlinear Fourier analysis (NLFA) based on NLS is employed to calculate the unstable wave components. The resulting rise time and travel distance for such unstable modes and their maximum possible growth amplitudes are used to derive a range of probable occurrences. Numerical simulation results from CFD computations are used to examine the capability of such an approach in predicting the magnitude and location of extreme wave occurrence. It is shown that application of the proposed NLS-based analytical procedure enables a more accurate prediction of the extreme wave field.


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