Numerical Simulation of Irregular Wave Forces on a Horizontal Cylinder

Abstract

In the present study, the irregular wave forces on a fully submerged circular cylinder are investigated using the open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model REEF3D. A complete three dimensional representation of the ocean waves requires the consideration of the sea surface as an irregular wave train with the random characteristics. The numerical model uses the incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations together with the continuity equation to solve the fluid flow problem. Turbulence modeling is carried out using the two equation k-ω model. Spatial discretization is done using an uniform Cartesian grid. The level set method is used for computing the free surface. For time discretization, third-order total variation diminishing (TVD) Runge Kutta scheme is used. Ghost cell boundary method is used for implementing the complex geometries in the numerical model. MPI is used for the exchange of the value of a ghost cell. Relaxation method is used for the wave generation. The numerical model is validated for the irregular waves for a wave tank without any structure. Further, the numerical model is validated by comparing the numerical results with the experimental data for a fully submerged circular cylinder under regular waves and irregular waves. The numerical results are in a good agreement with the experimental data for the regular and irregular wave forces. The JONSWAP spectrum is used for the wave generation. The free surface features and kinematics around the cylinder is also presented and discussed.