Thomas Davey

Isolating incident and reflected wave spectra in the presence of current

ABSTRACT It is vital for a variety of coastal and ocean engineering problems to understand the reflection characteristics of structures and devices. Various methods have been developed for wave-only cases, yet none have been demonstrated for wave–current conditions present in both the laboratory and real sea environments. A simple method to isolate wave reflections in collinear current is presented in this article, utilizing an established frequency-domain least-squares approach with a modified dispersion relation. The method has been tested numerically, before being applied to experimental data obtained at the FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility. Typical wave spectra are generated in currents ranging from −0.3 m/s to 0.3 m/s. Results obtained demonstrate the method effectiveness whilst verifying that the assumptions are valid. The development of this method should enable reflection analysis to be performed for wave–current conditions with improved accuracy and greater confidence.

Site Specific Wave Characterisation for Marine Energy Applications

In order to conduct effective resource assessment for the marine energy industry the applied analysis techniques must be consistent and practicable. It is therefore important to establish the parameters of interest when characterising a sea state. A number of parameters for describing the shape of individual waves in the time-domain are examined. These parameters are used to characterise wave records from three selected sites: The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), UK; The Wave Hub test site, UK and the North Alwyn platform east of the Shetland Islands.Copyright