Forces of fully nonlinear interfacial periodic waves on a cylindrical pile in a two-layer fluid with free-surface boundary conditions

Abstract

In the frame of fully nonlinear potential flow theory, series solutions of interfacial periodic gravity waves in a two-layer fluid with free surface are obtained by the homotopy analysis method (HAM), and the related wave forces on a vertical cylinder are analyzed. The solution procedure of the HAM for the interfacial wave model with rigid upper surface is further developed to consider the free surface boundary. And forces of nonlinear interfacial periodic waves are estimated by both the classical and modified Morison equations. It is found that the estimated wave forces by the classical Morison equation are more conservative than those by the modified Morison’s formula, and the relative error between the total inertial forces calculated by these two kinds of Morison’s formulae remains over 25% for most cases unless the upper and lower layer depths are both large enough. It demonstrates that the convective acceleration neglected in the classical Morison equation is rather important for inertial force exerted by not only internal solitary waves but also interfacial periodic waves. All of these should further deepen our understanding of internal periodic wave forces on a vertical marine riser.