Water wave diffraction by a small deformation of the ocean bottom for oblique incidence

Abstract

In this paper, the problem of oblique water wave diffraction by a small deformation of the bottom of a laterally unbounded ocean is considered using linear water wave theory. It is assumed that the fluid is incompressible and inviscid, and the flow irrotational. A perturbation analysis is employed to obtain the velocity potential, reflection and transmission coefficients up to the first order in terms of integrals involving the shape functions c(x) representing the bottom deformation by using Green's integral theorem. Two particular forms of the shape function are considered, and the integrals for the reflection and transmission coefficients are evaluated for these two different functions. Among those cases, for the particular case of a patch of sinusoidal ripples at the bottom, the reflection coefficient up to the first order is found to be an oscillatory function in the quotient of twice the wave number along the x-axis and the ripple wave number. When this quotient becomes one, the theory predicts a resonant interaction between the bed and free surface, and the reflection coefficient becomes a multiple of the number of ripples, and high reflection of the incident wave energy occurs if this number is large. Known results for the normal incidence are recovered as special cases. The numerical solutions for the reflection and transmission coefficients are also evaluated against wave numbers and angles of incidence.