Probability distribution of random wave–current forces

Abstract

Based on the second-order solutions obtained for the three-dimensional weakly nonlinear random waves propagating over a steady uniform current in finite water depth, the joint statistical distribution of the velocity and acceleration of the fluid particle in the current direction is derived using the characteristic function expansion method. From the joint distribution and the Morison equation, the theoretical distributions of drag forces, inertia forces and total random forces caused by waves propagating over a steady uniform current are determined. The distribution of inertia forces is Gaussian as that derived using the linear wave model, whereas the distributions of drag forces and total random forces deviate slightly from those derived utilizing the linear wave model. The distributions presented can be determined by the wave number spectrum of ocean waves, current speed and the second order wave–wave and wave–current interactions. As an illustrative example, for fully developed deep ocean waves, the parameters appeared in the distributions near still water level are calculated for various wind speeds and current speeds by using Donelan–Pierson–Banner spectrum and the effects of the current and the nonlinearity of ocean waves on the distribution are studied.