High-order Spectral Research Articles

A modified High-Order Spectral method for wavemaker modeling in a numerical wave tank

This paper presents the recent development on the nonlinear directional wave generation process in a 3D Numerical Wave Tank (NWT). The NWT is based on a nonlinear model using the High-Order Spectral (HOS) method, which exhibits high level of accuracy as well as efficiency properties provided by a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) solution. The wavemaker modeling appears to be a key point in the simulation and it is carefully detailed. Different levels of approximation of the wave generation (up to third-order in nonlinearity) are studied. The properties of the numerical scheme in terms of convergence, stability and accuracy are discussed. This NWT features all the characteristics of the real wave tank (directional wavemaker, absorbing zone, perfectly reflective side walls). Furthermore, several validation results and practical applications where numerical simulations are successfully compared to experiments on 2D and 3D wave fields are presented.

Re-study on recurrence period of Stokes wave train with high order spectral method

Owing to the Benjamin-Feir instability, the Stokes wave train experiences a modulation-demodulation process, and presents a recurrence characteristics. Stiassnie and Shemer researched the unstable evolution process and provided a theoretical formulation for the recurrence period in 1985 on the basis of the nonlinear cubic Schrodinger equation (NLS). However, NLS has limitations on the narrow band and the weak nonlinearity. The recurrence period is re-investigated in this paper by using a highly efficient High Order Spectral (HOS) method, which can be applied for the direct phaseresolved simulation of the nonlinear wave train evolution. It is found that the Stiassnie and Shemer’s formula should be modified in the cases with most unstable initial conditions, which is important for such topics as the generation mechanisms of freak waves. A new recurrence period formula is presented and some new evolution characteristics of the Stokes wave train are also discussed in details.

A comparative study of two fast nonlinear free‐surface water wave models

SUMMARYThis paper presents a comparison in terms of accuracy and efficiency between two fully nonlinear potential flow solvers for the solution of gravity wave propagation. One model is based on the high‐order spectral (HOS) method, whereas the second model is the high‐order finite difference model OceanWave3D. Although both models solve the nonlinear potential flow problem, they make use of two different approaches. The HOS model uses a modal expansion in the vertical direction to collapse the numerical solution to the two‐dimensional horizontal plane. On the other hand, the finite difference model simply directly solves the three‐dimensional problem. Both models have been well validated on standard test cases and shown to exhibit attractive convergence properties and an optimal scaling of the computational effort with increasing problem size. These two models are compared for solution of a typical problem: propagation of highly nonlinear periodic waves on a finite constant‐depth domain. The HOS model is found to be more efficient than OceanWave3D with a difference dependent on the level of accuracy needed as well as the wave steepness. Also, the higher the order of the finite difference schemes used in OceanWave3D, the closer the results come to the HOS model. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Simulation of viscous flows with undulatory boundaries: Part II. Coupling with other solvers for two-fluid computations

We extend the direct numerical simulation (DNS) capability developed in [D. Yang, L. Shen, Simulation of viscous flows with undulatory boundaries: Part I. Basic solver, J. Comput. Phys. (submitted for publication) ] to the simulation of two-fluid interaction with deformable interface. Two approaches are used to couple the DNS of one fluid with the simulation of another fluid. In the first, the DNS is coupled with a potential-flow based wave solver that uses a high-order spectral (HOS) method. This coupled method is applied to simulate the interaction of turbulent wind with surface waves, including single wave train and broadband wavefield. Validation with previous theoretical and experimental studies shows the accuracy and efficiency of this coupled DNS-HOS method for capturing the essential physics of wind–wave interaction. In the second approach, both of the fluids are simulated by the DNS and are coupled by an efficient iterative scheme, in which the continuity of velocity and the balance of stress are enforced at the interface. The performance of this coupled DNS–DNS method is demonstrated and validated by several test cases including: interfacial wave between two viscous fluids, water surface wave over highly viscous mud flow with interfacial wave, and interaction of two-phase vortex pairs with a deformable interface. Comparison with existing theoretical and numerical results confirms the accuracy of this coupled DNS–DNS method. Finally, this method is applied to study the interaction of air and water turbulence. The nonlinear development of interfacial wave by the excitation of the air and water turbulence, and the wave effect on the instantaneous and statistical characteristics of the turbulence are elucidated.

Numerical simulation of water wave propagation and transformation

A numerical approach was performed to predict the propagation and transformation of nonlinear water waves. A numerical wave flume was developed based on the non-periodic high-order spectral (HOS) method. The flume was applied to analyze the effect of wave steepness and wavelength on the propagation of nonlinear waves. The results show that for waves of low steepness, the wave profile and the wave energy spectrum are stable, and that the propagation can be predicted by the linear wave theory. For waves of moderate steepness and steep waves, the effects associated with the interactions between waves in a wave group become significant and a train of initially sinusoidal waves may drastically change its form within a short distance from its original position.

A numerical method for nonlinear water waves

This article presents a numerical method for modeling nonlinear water waves based on the High Order Spectral (HOS) method proposed by Dommermuth and Yue and West et al., involving Taylor expansion of the Dirichlet problem and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm. The validation and efficiency of the numerical scheme is illustrated by a number of case studies on wave and wave train configuration including the evolution of fifth-order Stokes waves, wave dispersive focusing and the instability of Stokes wave with finite slope. The results agree well with those obtained by other studies.

Bragg resonance of waves in a two-layer fluid propagating over bottom ripples. Part II. Numerical simulation

We develop a direct numerical method to study the general problem of nonlinear interactions of surface/interfacial waves with variable bottom topography in a two-layer density stratified fluid. We extend a powerful high-order spectral (HOS) method for nonlinear gravity wave dynamics in a homogeneous fluid to the case of a two-layer fluid over non-uniform bottom. The method is capable of capturing the nonlinear interactions among large number of surface/interfacial wave mode and bottom ripple components up to an arbitrary high order. The method preserves exponential convergence with respect to the number of modes of the original HOS and the (approximately) linear effort with respect to mode number and interaction order. The method is validated through systematic convergence tests and comparison to a semi-analytic solution we obtain for an exact nonlinear Stokes waves on a two-layer fluid (in uniform depth). We apply the numerical method to the three classes of generalized Bragg resonances studied in Alam, Liu & Yue (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 624, 2009, p. 225), and compare the perturbation predictions obtained there with the direct simulation results. An important finding is possibly the important effect of even higher-order nonlinear interactions not accounted for in the leading-order perturbation analyses. To illustrate the efficacy of the numerical method to the general problem, we consider a somewhat more complicated case involving two incident waves and three bottom ripple components with wavenumbers that lead to the possibility of multiple Bragg resonances. It is shown that the ensuing multiple (near) resonant interactions result in the generation of multiple new transmitted/reflected waves that fill a broad wavenumber band eventually leading to the loss of order and chaotic motion.