Experimental study of freak waves due to three-dimensional island terrain in random wave

An experimental study is carried out for waves passing an isolated reef terrain in a wave tank. A three-dimensional model of a representative and isolated reef terrain in the West Pacific is built. Random wave trains with various periods and wave heights are generated by a wave maker using the improved JONSWAP spectrum. It is observed that there are different kinds of generation processes and waveforms of freak waves. The freak wave factor Hm/Hs (where Hm is the maximum wave height of wave series, and Hs is significant wave height) is analyzed in detail, in terms of the skewness, kurtosis and water depth, as well as the relationship between freak wave height H& and skewness. The freak wave factor Hm/Hs is found to be in positive correlation with the kurtosis, while larger H[x tends to be related with bigger skewness. The rapid variation of water depth, such as slope and seamount, contributes to the occurrence probability of freak waves.

An experimental study is carried out for waves passing an isolated reef terrain in a wave tank. A three-dimensional model of a representative and isolated reef terrain in the West Pacific is built. Random wave trains with various periods and wave heights are generated by a wave maker using the improved JONSWAP spectrum. It is observed that there are different kinds of generation processes and waveforms of freak waves. The freak wave factor H_m=H_s(where Hm is the maximum wave height of wave series, and Hs is significant wave height) is analyzed in detail, in terms of the skewness, kurtosis and water depth, as well as the relationship between freak wave height Hfr and skewness. The freak wave factor H_m=H_s Hfr tends to be related with bigger skewness. The rapid variation of water depth, such as slope and seamount,contributes to the occurrence probability of freak waves.