Fundamental Studies on Ocean Wave Focusing

Abstract

Wave focusing has been attracting ocean engineers as one of the most promising techniques to control ocean waves. It creates a calm sea area and helps efficient utilization of wave energy. In the present work, a hydrodynamic singularity distribution which expresses a wave focusing lens is derived by the method of matched asymptotic expansion, assuming slenderness of the lens and high frequency of incident waves. The singularity distribution gives the following necessary conditions for scattered waves in each section of the lens : there is no reflection from the lens and the transmitted waves suffer a phase shift in passing the lens. The phase shift is given by the wavenumber and the distance between the section and the focus. From these conditions, we examine a sectional shape of the lens and determine the whole geometry.
It is shown by experiments and numerical computations using the two dimensional doublet distribution method that a submerged chevron shape plate, which is suitably folded, scatters a wave system which satisfies the above conditions at a certain wave frequency, but not in wide band of wave frequencies because of dispersion of water waves.
Then it is shown by experiments that a certain number of submerged circular cylinders, which are horizontally arranged at intervals just like a raft, transmits waves which have enough phase shift to focus waves but reflects almost no waves in wide band of wave frequencies.
Finally, we examine performances of three types of lens, namely, submerged flat plate, submerged chevron shape plate, and submerged circular cylinders, in both regular and irregular waves. It is shown by numerical computations that the wave focusing efficiency of the lens consisting of circular cylinders is about twice that of the flat plate type lens and that the drift force acting on the former is less than half of that on the latter in irregular waves.