Modified Rayleigh distribution of wave heights in transitional water depths

Abstract

This paper concerns the calculation of wave height exceedance probabilities for nonlinear irregular waves in transitional water depths, and a Transformed Rayleigh method is first proposed for carrying out the calculation. In the proposed Transformed Rayleigh method, the transformation model is chosen to be a monotonic exponential function, calibrated such that the first three moments of the transformed model match the moments of the true process. The proposed new method has been applied for calculating the wave height exceedance probabilities of a sea state with the surface elevation data measured at the Poseidon platform. It is demonstrated in this case that the proposed new method can offer better predictions than those by using the conventional Rayleigh wave height distribution model. The proposed new method has been further applied for calculating the total horizontal loads on a generic jacket, and its accuracy has once again been substantiated. The research findings gained from this study demonstrate that the proposed Transformed Rayleigh model can be utilized as a promising alternative to the well-established nonlinear wave height distribution models.