Boundary-integral analysis of nonlinear diffraction forces on a submerged body

A three-dimensional nonlinear time-dependent boundary-integral algorithm is developed to compute wave forces on an underwater vehicle. The effect of viscosity is neglected and the cases for which the effects could be important are discussed. The present algorithm is however an efficient tool to determine wave forces on a submerged body and can also be integrated into a viscous flow algorithm. A numerical wave tank is constructed for the simulation. A damping layer is introduced to minimize spurious reflection of scattered waves at the open boundary. A sinusoidal progressive pressure patch is used to generate incident waves. Wave forces are determined using four different methods: viz., (1) Froude-Krylov volume integration method, (2) Froude-Krylov surface pressure integration method, (3) Linear diffraction analysis and (4) Nonlinear diffraction analysis for a range of parameters including incident wavelength and wave height. Results are compared to quantify effects of nonlinearity and diffraction effect of the body.