Numerical investigation on the generation and propagation of irregular waves in a two-dimensional wave tank

Abstract

The modeling of generation and subsequent propagation of irregular waves in a numerical wave flume is performed by mean of the boundary element method. Random waves are generated by a piston-type wave generator at one end of the flume with the Mitsuyasu-Bretschneider spectrum used as the target spectrum for the generation. An artificial absorbing beach is placed at the other end of the flume to minimize wave reflection. Surface fluctuations are described by use of the Lagrangian description, and finite difference is adopted for the approximation of time derivative. To monitor the developments of the waves, a number of pseudo wave gauges are installed along the tank. Through comparison of the spectra from those gauges with the target spectrum, satisfactory results can be obtained from the present numerical scheme.