Qingwei Ma

Numerical simulation of sloshing waves in a 3D tank based on a finite element method

The sloshing waves in a three dimensional (3D) tank are analysed using a finite element method based on the fully non-linear wave potential theory. When the tank is undergoing two dimensional (2D) motion, the calculated results are found to be in very good agreement with other published data. Extensive calculation has been made for the tank in 3D motion. As in 2D motion, in addition to normal standing waves, travelling waves and bores are also observed. It is found that high pressures occur in various circumstances, which could have important implications for many engineering designs.

Quasi ALE finite element method for nonlinear water waves

This paper presents a newly developed quasi arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element method (QALE-FEM) for simulating water waves based on fully nonlinear potential theory. The main difference of this method from the conventional finite element method developed by one of authors of this paper and others (see e.g. [Q.W. Ma, G.X. Wu, R. Eatock Taylor, Finite element simulation of fully non-linear interaction between vertical cylinders and steep waves. Part 1: Methodology and numerical procedure and Part 2: Numerical results and validation, Int. J. Numer. Methods Fluids, 36 (2001) 265-308.] and [G.X. Wu, Z.Z. Hu, Simulation of nonlinear interactions between waves and floating bodies through a finite-element-based numerical tank, Proc. R. Soc. A 460 (2004) 2050, 3037-3058.]) is that the complex mesh is generated only once at the beginning and is moved at all other time steps in order to conform to the motion of the free surface and structures. This feature allows one to use an unstructured mesh with any degree of complexity without the need of regenerating it every time step, which is generally inevitable and very costly. Due to this feature, the QALE-FEM has high potential in enhancing computational efficiency when applied to problems associated with the complex interaction between large steep waves and structures since the use of an unstructured mesh in such a case is likely to be necessary. To achieve overall high efficiency, the numerical techniques involved in the QALE-FEM are developed, including the method to move interior nodes, technique to re-distribute the nodes on the free surface, scheme to calculate velocities and so on. The model is validated by water waves generated by a wavemaker in a tank and the interaction between water waves and periodic bars on the bed of tank. Satisfactory agreement is achieved with analytical solutions, experimental data and numerical results from other methods.

Did the Draupner wave occur in a crossing sea

The ‘New Year Wave’ was recorded at the Draupner platform in the North Sea and is a rare high-quality measurement of a ‘freak’ or ‘rogue’ wave. The wave has been the subject of much interest and numerous studies. Despite this, the event has still not been satisfactorily explained. One piece of information that was not directly measured at the platform, but which is vital to understanding the nonlinear dynamics is the waves directional spreading. This paper investigates the directionality of the Draupner wave and concludes it might have resulted from two wave-groups crossing, whose mean wave directions were separated by about 90° or more. This result has been deduced from a set-up of the low-frequency second-order difference waves under the giant wave, which can be explained only if two wave systems are propagating at such an angle. To check whether second-order theory is satisfactory for such a highly nonlinear event, we have run numerical simulations using a fully nonlinear potential flow solver, which confirm the conclusion deduced from the second-order theory. This is backed up by a hindcast from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts that shows swell waves propagating at approximately 80° to the wind sea. Other evidence that supports our conclusion are the measured forces on the structure, the magnitude of the second-order sum waves and some other instances of freak waves occurring in crossing sea states.

Numerical simulation of fully nonlinear interaction between steep waves and 2D floating bodies using the QALE-FEM method

This paper extends the QALE-FEM (quasi arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element method) based on a fully nonlinear potential theory, which was recently developed by the authors [Q.W. Ma, S. Yan, Quasi ALE finite element method for nonlinear water waves, J. Comput. Phys, 212 (2006) 52-72; S. Yan, Q.W. Ma, Application of QALE-FEM to the interaction between nonlinear water waves and periodic bars on the bottom, in: 20th International Workshop on Water Waves and Floating Bodies, Norway, 2005], to deal with the fully nonlinear interaction between steep waves and 2D floating bodies. In the QALE-FEM method, complex unstructured mesh is generated only once at the beginning of calculation and is moved to conform to the motion of boundaries at other time steps, avoiding the necessity of high cost remeshing. In order to tackle challenges associated with floating bodies, several new numerical techniques are developed in this paper. These include the technique for moving mesh near and on body surfaces, the scheme for estimating the velocities and accelerations of bodies as well as the forces on them, the method for evaluating the fluid velocity on the surface of bodies and the technique for shortening the transient period. Using the developed techniques and methods, various cases associated with the nonlinear interaction between waves and floating bodies are numerically simulated. For some cases, the numerical results are compared with experimental data available in the public domain and good agreement is achieved.

Numerical simulation of nonlinear wave radiation by a moving vertical cylinder

In this paper the fully nonlinear potential model based on a finite element method is used to investigate the nonlinear wave motion around a moving circular cylinder. The results for the cylinder in transient motion are compared with the experimental data and a much better agreement than the linear theory is found. Further simulation for a circular cylinder in sinusoidal motion is made. It is found that when the ratio of the cylinder diameter D to the wavelength L is relatively small at a fixed motion amplitude the nonlinear components of the runup on the cylinder surface at the second- and third-harmonic frequencies become more important and this is confirmed by the experimental data. Results for the hydrodynamic force are also provided for a cylinder oscillating in a channel. It is noticed that when the frequency of the cylinder motion in a channel is between the first and the second natural frequencies of the symmetric mode, the time history has components not only at the frequency of the cylinder motion but also at the first natural frequency. The latter remains significant over the period that the simulation is made. This has important implications to model testing. If measurement is to be made at such a frequency it may take long time for the motion to become periodic at the frequency of the cylinder motion.

On the non-linear forces acting on a floating spar platform in ocean waves

Abstract The exploitation of hydrocarbon reservoirs under the seabed in very deep water requires the use of innovative floating platform configurations. The hydrodynamic interaction of such platforms with ocean waves and the understanding and quantification of the non-linear components of these interactions have been a subject of continuing research. This paper examines these non-linear interaction components for a specific very deep draft spar platform type that is increasingly being used in the oceans. It investigates a formulation for two non-linear force components — called the axial divergence force and the centrifugal force. The latter is invariably neglected in conventional analyses but is shown in this paper to actually be of significant importance. Non-linear equations for wave loading and motion are developed and solved, and the results are used to demonstrate the significance of the above terms. A limited comparison with experimental data is also presented.

Improved MLPG_R method for simulating 2D interaction between violent waves and elastic structures

Interaction between violent water waves and structures is of a major concern and one of the important issues that has not been well understood in marine engineering. This paper will present first attempt to extend the Meshless Local Petrov Galerkin method with Rankine source solution (MLPG_R) for studying such interaction, which solves the Navier-Stokes equations for water waves and the elastic vibration equations for structures under wave impact. The MLPG_R method has been applied successfully to modeling various violent water waves and their interaction with rigid structures in our previous publications. To make the method robust for modeling wave elastic-structure interaction (hydroelasticity) problems concerned here, a near-strongly coupled and partitioned procedure is proposed to deal with coupling between violent waves and dynamics of structures. In addition, a novel approach is adopted to estimate pressure gradient when updating velocities and positions of fluid particles, leading to a relatively smoother pressure time history that is crucial for success in simulating problems about wave-structure interaction. The developed method is used to model several cases, covering a range from small wave to violent waves. Numerical results for them are compared with those obtained from other methods and from experiments in literature. Reasonable good agreement between them is achieved.

Incompressible SPH method based on Rankine source solution for violent water wave simulation

With wide applications, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method (abbreviated as SPH) has become an important numerical tool for solving complex flows, in particular those with a rapidly moving free surface. For such problems, the incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (ISPH) has been shown to yield better and more stable pressure time histories than the traditional SPH by many papers in literature. However, the existing ISPH method directly approximates the second order derivatives of the functions to be solved by using the Poisson equation. The order of accuracy of the method becomes low, especially when particles are distributed in a disorderly manner, which generally happens for modelling violent water waves. This paper introduces a new formulation using the Rankine source solution. In the new approach to the ISPH, the Poisson equation is first transformed into another form that does not include any derivative of the functions to be solved, and as a result, does not need to numerically approximate derivatives. The advantage of the new approach without need of numerical approximation of derivatives is obvious, potentially leading to a more robust numerical method. The newly formulated method is tested by simulating various water waves, and its convergent behaviours are numerically studied in this paper. Its results are compared with experimental data in some cases and reasonably good agreement is achieved. More importantly, numerical results clearly show that the newly developed method does need less number of particles and so less computational costs to achieve the similar level of accuracy, or to produce more accurate results with the same number of particles compared with the traditional SPH and existing ISPH when it is applied to modelling water waves.

ANALYSIS OF WAVE INDUCED DRIFT FORCES ACTING ON A SUBMERGED SPHERE IN FINITE WATER DEPTH

Abstract A solution is presented for the wave induced drift forces acting on a submerged sphere in a finite water depth based on linearised velocity potential theory. In order to obtain the velocity potential, use has been made of multipole expansions in terms of an infinite series of Legendre functions with unknown coefficients. The series expression for the second order mean forces (drift forces) is provided by integrating the fluid pressure over the body surface. The horizontal drift force is also expressed by a series solution obtained using the far-field method.

Corrected First-Order Derivative ISPH in Water Wave Simulations

The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is a meshless numerical modeling technique. It has been applied in many different research fields in coastal engineering. Due to the drawback of its kernel approximation, however, the accuracy of SPH simulation results still needs to be improved in the prediction of violent wave impact. This paper compares several different forms of correction on the first-order derivative of ISPH formulation aiming to find one optimum kernel approximation. Based on four benchmark case analysis, we explored different kernel corrections and compared their accuracies. Furthermore, we applied them to one solitary wave and two dam-break flows with violent wave impact. The recommended method has been found to achieve much more promising results as compared with experimental data and other numerical approaches.