Spatial Variation of Wave Force Acting on a Vertical Detached Breakwater Considering Diffraction

In this study, the analytical solution for diffraction near a vertical detached breakwater was suggested by superposing the solutions of diffraction near a semi-infinite breakwater suggested previously using linear wave theory. The solutions of wave forces acting on front, lee and composed wave forces on both side were also derived. Relative wave amplitude changed periodically in space owing to the interactions between diffracting waves and standing waves on front side and the interactions between diffracting waves from both tips of a detached breakwater on lee side. The wave forces on a vertical detached breakwater were investigated with monochromatic, uni-directional random and multi-directional random waves. The maximum composed wave force considering the forces on front and lee side reached maximum 1.6 times of wave forces which doesn’t consider diffraction. This value is larger than the maximum composed wave force of semi-infinite breakwater considering diffraction, 1.34 times, which was suggested by Jung et al. (2021). The maximum composed wave forces were calculated in the order of monochromatic, uni-directional random and multi-directional random waves in terms of intensity. It was also found that the maximum wave force of obliquely incident waves was sometimes larger than that of normally incident waves. It can be known that the considerations of diffraction, the composed wave force on both front and lee side and incident wave angle are important from this study.

A Model-Derived Empirical Formulation for Wave Run-Up on Naturally Sloping Beaches

A new set of empirical formulations has been derived to predict wave run-up at naturally sloping sandy beaches. They are obtained by fitting the results of hundreds of XBeach-NH+ model simulations. The simulations are carried out over a wide range of offshore wave conditions (wave heights ranging from 1 to 12 m and periods from 6 to 16 s), and surf zone (Dean parameters aD ranging from 0.05 to 0.30) and beach geometries (slopes ranging from 1:100 to 1:5). The empirical formulations provide estimates of wave set-up, incident and infragravity wave run-up, and total run-up R2%. Reduction coefficients are included to account for the effects of incident wave angle and directional spreading. The formulations have been validated against the Stockdon dataset and show better skill at predicting R2% run-up than the widely used Stockdon relationships. Unlike most existing run-up predictors, the relations presented here include the effect of the surf zone slope, which is shown to be an important parameter for predicting wave run-up. Additionally, this study shows a clear relationship between infragravity run-up and beach slope, unlike most existing predictors.

Hydrodynamic Sensitivity of Moored and Articulated Multibody Offshore Structures in Waves

Within the framework of Space@Sea project, an articulated modular floating structurewas developed to serve as building blocks for artificial islands. The modularity was one of the keyelements, intended to provide the desired flexibility of additional deck space at sea. Consequently, the layout of a modular floating concept may change, depending on its functionality and environmental condition. Employing a potential-flow-based numerical model (i.e., weakly nonlinear Green function solver AQWA), this paper studied the hydrodynamic sensitivity of such multibody structures to the number of modules, to the arrangement of these modules, and to the incident wave angle. Results showed that for most wave frequencies, their hydrodynamic characteristics were similar although the floating platforms consisted of a different number of modules. Only translational horizontal motions, i.e., surge and sway, were sensitive to the incident wave angle. The most critical phenomenon occurred at head seas, where waves traveled perpendicularly to the rotation axes of hinged joints, and the hinge forces were largest. Hydrodynamic characteristics of modules attached behind the forth module hardly changed. The highest mooring line tensions arose at low wave frequencies, and they were caused by second-order mean drift forces. First-order forces acting on the mooring lines were relatively small. Apart from the motion responses and mooring tensions, forces acting on the hinge joints governed the system’s design. The associated results contribute to design of optimal configurations of moored and articulated multibody floating islands.

Optimisation of wave-power arrays without prescribed geometry over incident wave angle

This paper describes the optimisation of arrays of wave energy converters (WECs) of point absorber type. The WECs are spherical in shape and operate in heave only. Previous work is extended to an optimisation of array layouts without a prescribed geometry. The objective function is chosen as the mean of the array interaction factor over a prescribed range of incident wave angles. This formulation forces the array to perform optimally over a specified range of wave angle, without direct concern for wavelength variations. Both constrained and unconstrained WEC motions are considered, with constrained optimisations limiting device displacements to two or three times the incident wave amplitude. The increased freedom in this more general optimisation results in a 70% to 140% increase in objective function values compared to the analogous linear array optimisations. As in previous studies of this nature, unconstrained arrays tend to contain closely spaced WECs and larger displacement amplitudes, whereas constrained optimal arrays are more widely spaced. It is shown that the prescribed range of incident wave angle has a great effect on the optimal array layout, with better performance achieved for smaller ranges of wave angle due to better tuning of the array members. A previously identified trade-off in linear arrays, between performance stability to different incident wave parameters, is shown not to apply to general array layouts.

Parametric Analysis of an Optical Log-Spiral Nano-Antenna for Infrared Energy Harvesting

In this paper, we present the design of a spiral nano-antenna dedicated to infrared energy harvesting at 28.3 THz. A comprehensive, detailed parametric study of key parameters such as the initial angle at the origin arm, width of the spiral arms, gap between the two arms, thickness of substrate, length of substrate, thickness of patch and number of turns of the nano-antenna is also presented and discussed in order to harvest maximum electric field in the gap of the spiral antenna in the frequency range of 28 – 29 THz. The maximum electric field is simulated at 28.1, 28.3, 28.5 and 28.7 THz. A variation of the electric field of the antenna for different value of incident wave angle at the resonance frequency 28.3 THz has been simulated. The main advantages of the studied structure are its ability to reach high confined electric field within its gap, its wideband behavior around the operating frequency 28.3 THz, and its insensitivity to polarization of incident electromagnetic waves.

Dynamicity of multi-channel rip currents induced by rhythmic sandbars

In response to frequent fatal beach drownings, China's first operational attempt on the rip current hazard investigation was made by the National Marine Hazard Mitigation Service (NMHMS). A great number of recreational beaches were found developing rip currents interlaced with rhythmic sandbars, varying by season and location evidenced by satellite images and morphodynamic calculation. Considering insufficient understanding of the multi-channel rip system, case analysis and numerical study were conducted to explore its dynamicity and circulation characteristics under various wave climates in present work. The strength of rip currents was generally proportional to wave height and channel width under certain limits. Increasing wave height was not always a promotion and could even weaken the rip current due to the strong wave-current shear. Interesting pump and feed interactions between adjacent rip currents in the multi-channel system were observed. The rip current might be totally absent in narrow channels when the majority of water flows through neighboring broader pathways. The rip current was highly sensitive to the incident wave angle. Alongshore currents prevailed over the rip current when the wave angle reached 11 degrees to shore normal, which was not favorable to the existence of channeled sandbars. Vortices appeared around the edge of the bar owing to nonuniform wave breaking over rapid-varying bathymetry. The setup water was created shoreward by the sandbar array and substantially increased as the wave deviated from the normal incidence. The water surface depression in the rip channel was not observed as the wave angle increased, which fundamentally explained why the rip current could not persist when the incident wave became slightly oblique. In future, incident wave angle should be further incorporated into empirical formulas or probabilistic models to predict the rip current for expected improvement in accuracy.

Engineering multimodal spectrum of Cayley tree fractal meta-resonator supercells for ultrabroadband terahertz light absorption

Self-similar fractals provide a degree of freedom for varying the resonance frequency due to the multiscale geometric features involved and are an ideal candidate for ultrabroadband absorbing devices – especially in the terahertz (THz) band where there is a lack of natural absorbing materials. Metasurface-based THz absorbers often suffer from poor broadband performance, whereas strongly absorbing broadband devices are typically complex multilayer structures. Here, we numerically demonstrate an ultrabroadband, ultrathin, polarization-insensitive, wide-angle, single-layer planar metasurface THz absorber by integrating different Cayley tree fractal resonators into one supercell based on the frequency shifting and multiresonance bands of different fractal orders. In terms of physics, we have exploited the self-similar nature of fractal geometry to engineer the multimodal spectrum of this system. With increasing fractal order N, an increasing number of modes can be excited with certain degeneracies where each mode corresponds to plasmon oscillations at different geometric scales inside fractal. As a result, broad, multipeaked spectra with large degeneracy numbers can be achieved with larger N. Finally, by placing fractals of different order N into one supercell, the coupling and superposition of the neighboring resonances exhibit the desired ultrabroadband response. The proposed absorber provides a wide incident wave angle with a full-width half-maximum absorption bandwidth of more than one octave, i.e. 3.88 THz. Greater than 80% absorption is achieved over a frequency range of 3 THz. Owing to its performance, this work is a step forward in realizing perfect blackbody absorbers that can be easily integrated with bolometric sensing technology to make high-efficient THz-sensing devices.

A Fundamental Research on the Effects of a Floating Berth on Reduction of Tsunami Damages in a Harbor: Reduction Effects of the Breaking of Mooring Lines and Running on a Quay

Tsunami consecutively brings about several types of disasters, which is described as “disaster chain.” In the case that vessels are moored to the quay, the breaking of the mooring line possibly causes drift or collision with other vessels. There is also a case that a mooring tether of the vessel moored to the floating pier is not broken in the damage of tsunami, which was confirmed at Shiogama port in Miyagi when the East Japan Great Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. The objectives of this paper are to clarify the reduction effect of mooring line force when a vessel is moored to a floating berth. The three-dimensional MPS method is used with advantages of floating berth considered. We simulated a vessel with the cargo carrier of 3,000t. Especially, by changing the wave elevation and the incident angle, the responses of the mooring tension which acts on the vessel moored to a floating berth and to the quay respectively are compared, and its reducing efficiency is examined. A conclusion is reached that, when tsunami incident wave angle is 90 degrees, mooring vessels to a floating berth can be expected as a solution to reduce the problems of vessel’s running onto a quay, in comparison with mooring them at a quay wall. Also, we propose suitable anchoring methods according to the size of the vessels.

Shear Current Effects on Monochromatic Water Waves Crossing Trenches

The reflection coefficients of monochromatic water waves over trenches with shear current are estimated analytically. The diffraction of waves by an abrupt depth change and shear current is formulated by the matched eigenfunction expansion method. The proper number of steps and evanescent modes are proposed by a series of convergence tests. The accuracy of the predicted reflection coefficients is checked by estimating the wave energy. Reflection and transmission characteristics are studied for various shear current conditions. The different combinations of strength, width of shear current, and incident wave angle with constant water depth topography are examined. The optimal figure of the trench with shear current is obtained by estimating the reflection coefficients for various sloped transitions. The resonant reflection of the water waves is found by multiarrayed optimal trenches and the interaction of sinusoidally varying topography with shear current.