Numerical modelling of nonlinear extreme waves in the presence of wind

Ning, Dezhi, Du, Jun, Bai, W ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3537-207X, Zhang, Congwei and Teng, Bin (2018) Numerical modelling of nonlinear extreme waves in the presence of wind. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 37 (9). pp. 90-98. ISSN 0253-505X

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Abstract

A numerical wave flume with fully nonlinear free surface boundary conditions is adopted to investigate the temporal characteristics of extreme waves in the presence of wind at various speeds. Incident wave trains are numerically generated by a piston-type wave maker, and the wind-excited pressure is introduced into dynamic boundary conditions using a pressure distribution over steep crests, as defined by Jeffreys’ sheltering mechanism. A boundary value problem is solved by a higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) and a mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian time marching scheme. The proposed model is validated through comparison with published experimental data from a focused wave group. The influence of wind on extreme wave properties, including maximum extreme wave crest, focal position shift, and spectrum evolution, is also studied. To consider the effects of the wind-driven currents on a wave evolution, the simulations assume a uniform current over varying water depth. The results show that wind causes weak increases in the extreme wave crest, and makes the nonlinear energy transfer non-reversible in the focusing and defocusing processes. The numerical results also provide a comparison to demonstrate the shifts at focal points, considering the combined effects of the winds and the wind-driven currents.