D. V. Evans

A theory for wave-power absorption by oscillating bodies

A theory is given for predicting the absorption of the power in an incident sinusoidal wave train by means of a damped, oscillating, partly or completely submerged body. General expressions for the efficiency of wave absorption when the body oscillates in one or, in some cases, two modes are given. It is shown that 100% efficiency is possible in some cases. Curves describing the variation of efficiency and amplitude of the body with wavenumber for various bodies are presented.

The interaction of waves with arrays of vertical circular cylinders

The scattering of water waves by an array of N bottom-mounted vertical circular cylinders is solved exactly (under the assumption of linear water wave theory) using the method proposed by Spring & Monkmeyer in 1974. A major simplification to this theory has been found which makes the evaluation of quantities such as the forces on the cylinders much simpler. New formulae are given for the first and mean second-order forces together with one for the free-surface elevation in the vicinity of a particular cylinder. Comparisons are made between the exact results shown here and those generated using the approximate method of McIver & Evans (1984). The behaviour of the forces on the bodies in the long-wave limit is also examined for the special case of two cylinders with equal radii.

Wave-power absorption by systems of oscillating surface pressure distributions

Some general results are derived for the efficiency of energy absorption of a system of uniform oscillatory surface pressure distributions. The results, which are based on classical linear water-wave theory, show the close analogies which exist with theories for systems of absorbing oscillatory rigid bodies and a number of new reciprocal relations for pressure distributions are suggested and proved. Some simple examples illustrating the general results are given and compared with the corresponding results for rigid bodies.

EXISTENCE THEOREMS FOR TRAPPED MODES

A two-dimensional acoustic waveguide of infinite extent described by two parallel lines contains an obstruction of fairly general shape which is symmetric about the centreline of the waveguide. It is proved that there exists at least one mode of oscillation, antisymmetric about the centreline, that corresponds to a local oscillation at a particular frequency, in the absence of excitation, which decays with distance down the waveguide away from the obstruction. Mathematically, this trapped mode is related to an eigenvalue of the Laplace operator in the waveguide. The proof makes use of an extension of the idea of the Rayleight quotient to characterize the lowest eigenvalue of a differential operator on an infinite domain.

Complementary approximations to wave scattering by vertical barriers

Scattering of waves by vertical barriers in infinite-depth water has received much attention due to the ability to solve many of these problems exactly. However, the same problems in finite depth require the use of approximation methods. In this paper we present an accurate method of solving these problems based on a Galerkin approximation. We will show how highly accurate complementary bounds can be computed with relative ease for many scattering problems involving vertical barriers in finite depth and also for a sloshing problem involving a vertical barrier in a rectangular tank.

APPROXIMATION OF WAVE FORCES ON CYLINDER ARRAYS

An approximate method for the estimation of wave forces on groups of fixed vertical cylinders is presented. The method is based upon a large spacing approximation and involves replacing scattered diverging waves by plane waves. The method is shown to give good results when compared with an exact method, even when the spacing is small. Some new results for a group of five cylinders are presented.

Diffraction of water waves by a submerged vertical plate

A thin vertical plate makes small, simple harmonic rolling oscillations beneath the surface of an incompressible, irrotational liquid. The plate is assumed to be so wide that the resulting equations may be regarded as two-dimensional. In addition, a train of plane waves of frequency equal to the frequency of oscillation of the plate, is normally incident on the plate. The resulting linearized boundary-value problem is solved in closed form for the velocity potential everywhere in the fluid and on the plate. Expressions are derived for the first- and second-order forces and moments on the plate, and for the wave amplitudes at a large distance either side of the plate. Numerical results are obtained for the case of the plate held fixed in an incident wave-train. It is shown how these results, in the special case when the plate intersects the free surface, agree, with one exception, with results obtained by Ursell (1947) and Haskind (1959) for this problem.

Wave scattering by narrow cracks in ice sheets floating on water of finite depth

An explicit solution is provided for the scattering of an obliquely incident flexural-gravity wave by a narrow straight-line crack separating two semi-infinite thin elastic plates floating on water of finite depth. By first separating the solution into the sum of symmetric and antisymmetric parts it is shown that a simple form for each part can be derived in terms of a rapidly convergent infinite series multiplied by a fundamental constant of the problem. This constant is simply determined by applying an appropriate edge condition. Curves of reflection and transmission coefficients are presented, showing how they vary with plate properties and angle of incidence. It is also shown that in the absence of incident waves and for certain relations between their wavelength and frequency, symmetric edge waves exist which travel along the crack and decay in a direction normal to the crack.

Maximum wave-power absorption under motion constraints

Abstract An expression is derived for the maximum mean power that can be absorbed by a system of oscillating bodies in waves under a global constraint on their motions. The particular case of a single half-immersed sphere is used to show how the ‘point absorber’ result predicting capture widths in excess of unity must be modified. The theory is also applied to the submerged cylinder wave-energy device and curves are presented which show how the maximum efficiency is affected by restricting the motion of the device.

Rayleigh-Bloch surface waves along periodic gratings and their connection with trapped modes in waveguides

Rayleigh–Bloch surface waves are acoustic or electromagnetic waves which propagate parallel to a two-dimensional diffraction grating and which are exponentially damped with distance from the grating. In the water-wave context they describe a localized wave having dominant wavenumber β travelling along an infinite periodic array of identical bottom-mounted cylinders having uniform cross-section throughout the water depth. A numerical method is described which enables the frequencies of the Rayleigh–Bloch waves to be determined as a function of β for an arbitrary cylinder cross-section. For particular symmetric cylinders, it is shown how a special choice of β produces results for the trapped mode frequencies and mode shapes in the vicinity of any (finite) number of cylinders spanning a rectangular waveguide or channel. It is also shown how one particular choice of β gives rise to a new type of trapped mode near an unsymmetric cylinder contained within a parallel-sided waveguide with locally-distorted walls. The implications for large forces due to incident waves on a large but finite number of such cylinders in the ocean is discussed.