Intercomparison of Three Open-Source Numerical Flumes for the Surface Dynamics of Steep Focused Wave Groups

Type Article
Date 2021-01
Language English
Author(s) Vyzikas ThomasORCID1, 2, Stagonas Dimitris3, Maisondieu ChristopheORCID2, Greaves Deborah1
Affiliation(s) 1 : School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
2 : Ifremer Centre Bretagne, Laboratoire Comportement des Structures en Mer, 29280 Plouzané, France
3 : Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyrpus
Source Fluids (2311-5521) (MDPI AG), 2021-01 , Vol. 6 , N. 1 , P. 9 (28p.)
DOI 10.3390/fluids6010009
WOS© Times Cited 3
Note This article belongs to the Special Issue Mathematical and Numerical Modeling of Water Waves
Keyword(s) extreme waves, focused waves, dispersion, harmonic analysis, CFD, OpenFOAM, SWASH, HOS
Abstract

NewWave-type focused wave groups are commonly used to simulate the design wave for a given sea state. These extreme wave events are challenging to reproduce numerically by the various Numerical Wave Tanks (NWTs), due to the high steepness of the wave group and the occurring wave-wave interactions. For such complex problems, the validation of NWTs against experimental results is vital for confirming the applicability of the models. Intercomparisons among different solvers are also important for selecting the most appropriate model in terms of balancing between accuracy and computational cost. The present study compares three open-source NWTs in OpenFOAM, SWASH and HOS-NWT, with experimental results for limiting breaking focused wave groups. The comparison is performed by analysing the propagation of steep wave groups and their extracted harmonics after employing an accurate focusing methodology. The scope is to investigate the capabilities of the solvers for simulating extreme NewWave-type groups, which can be used as the “design wave” for ocean and coastal engineering applications. The results demonstrate the very good performance of the numerical models and provide valuable insights to the design of the NWTs, while highlighting potential limitations in the reproduction of specific harmonics of the wave group.

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