Analysis of Wave Interaction With Cylinders Using a 3D Numerical Wave Tank

Abstract

Evaluation of flow around a cylinder placed in waves is a challenging task due to the complex nature of the flow. A good understanding of the flow physics involved here is important as coastal and offshore structures consist of horizontal and vertical cylindrical elements. This paper explores the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to evaluate the flow field around cylindrical structures. A 3D numerical wave tank is employed to study the free surface and fluid velocities around a vertical cylinder placed in waves and the total force acting on the cylinder is evaluated. The numerical results are compared with experimental data. Further, a simple representation of an offshore structure modelled as multiple cylinders in proximity is also simulated in the numerical wave tank. The presence of neighbouring cylinders has an effect on the flow field. This affects the force acting on each of the cylinders in the group. The forces acting on every cylinder in the group are evaluated and the free surface elevation in the flow field is also visualised. The numerical result is compared with the result from an analytical formula. The numerical model uses the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations to evaluate the flow field. The convective terms are discretized using a 5th-order conservative finite difference WENO scheme. Time discretization is carried out using a 3rd-order Runge-Kutta scheme. Pressure discretization is carried out using Chorin’s projection method. The Poisson pressure equation is solved using a pre-conditioned BiCGStab algorithm. A sharp representation of the free surface is obtained using the level set method. Turbulence modeling is carried out using the k-ω model. Computational performance of the numerical model is improved by parallel processing using the MPI library.