The effect of non-linearity at the free surface on flow past a submerged cylinder

Abstract

Plane potential flow past a circular cylinder beneath a free surface under gravity is investigated in order to determine the importance or otherwise of non-linear effects from the free-surface boundary condition. It is shown that non-linear second-order corrections to the first-order linearized expressions for the wave-induced forces on the cylinder are considerably larger than second-order effects which are present even with a linear free-surface condition. Further evidence for the importance of non-linearity is presented in the form of streamline plots of the first-order solution showing strange behaviour at wave crests.