Experimental Study on the Wavelengths of Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Freak Waves

Freak waves are commonly characterized by strong-nonlinearity, and the wave steepness, which is calculated from the wavelength, is a measure of the degree of the wave nonlinearity. Moreover, the wavelength can describe the locally spatial characteristics of freak waves. Generally, the wavelengths of freak waves are estimated from the dispersion relations of Stokes waves. This paper concerns whether this approach enables a consistent estimate of the wavelength of freak waves. The two-(unidirectional, long-crested) and three-dimensional(multidirectional, shortcrested) freak waves are simulated experimentally through the dispersive and directional focusing of component waves, and the wavelengths obtained from the surface elevations measured by the wave gauge array are compared with the results from the linear, 3rd-order and 5th-order Stokes wave theories. The comparison results suggest that the 3rd-order theory estimates the wavelengths of freak waves with higher accuracy than the linear and 5th-order theories. Furthermore, the results allow insights into the dominant factors. It is particularly noteworthy that the accuracy is likely to depend on the wave period, and that the wavelengths of longer period freak waves are overestimated but the wavelengths are underestimated for shorter period ones. In order to decrease the deviation, a modified formulation is presented to predict the wavelengths of two-and three-dimensional freak waves more accurately than the 3rd-order dispersion relation, by regression analysis. The normalized differences between the predicted and experimental results are over 50% smaller for the modified model suggested in this study compared with the 3rd-order dispersion relation.

Hydrodynamic Behavior of Gap Resonance in Multiple-Box Systems with Sharp and Round Inlet Configurations

Fluid resonance within narrow gaps in multiple-box systems with sharp and round inlet configurations are investigated by using the potential flow and viscous fluid flow models in the OpenFOAM^(■)package.Evident discrepancy between two numerical models can be observed for sharp inlet configurations.In addition to the dramatical decrease of resonant amplitude in narrow gaps,some peak values at the higher resonant frequencies predicted by the potential flow model even disappear in the viscous fluid flow results.The decreased normalized resonant amplitudes with the increase of incident wave amplitude can be observed for sharp inlet configurations.However,the hydrodynamic behaviors of multiple-box system with round inlet configurations between potential flow and viscous fluid flow models are quite similar with each other.The normalized resonant amplitudes are nearly independent of incident wave amplitudes for multiple-box systems with round inlet configurations.This implies that the energy dissipation associated with fluid viscosity and flow rotation plays an important role in the gap resonance for sharp inlet configurations;while it is insignificant for round inlet configurations.