Flexural-gravity wave interaction with undulating bottom topography in the presence of uniform current: An asymptotic approach

Abstract

Using an asymptotic method, this article deals with flexural-gravity wave scattering with undulating bottom topography, including the effect of uniform currents. The interest in this problem lies in developing second-order solutions using the Fourier transform, which minimises the error gap between first and second-order solutions. The present method allows the physical processes involved in the sea-bed topography, uniform current, plate-covered surface, and wave interaction to be studied. Specifically, we observe Bragg resonance between the flexural-gravity waves and the bottom ripples, which are associated with the reflection of incident wave energy. We examine the effects of wave current and emphasise how crucial the asymptotic expansion method is to the emergence of the current response. We demonstrate that bottom topography dominates the effects of Bragg resonance for depth Froude numbers valued at 0.8 or less. Further, most reflected wave components have their frequencies shifted by the current, and wave action conservation causes reflected wave energy to be enhanced for following currents. Using the Joint North Sea Wave Observation Project spectrum and the discrete Fourier transform, the theory derived in the frequency domain is shown in the time domain to analyse wave propagation through the whole system.