Numerical Simulation of Focused Wave Interaction with a Fixed Vertical Cylinder

In high sea states, offshore structures may suffer from extreme wave impact loads, which can result in serious local structural damage. It is still a great challenge for offshore designers to accurately predict wave impact loads. In this study, a coupled potential-viscous flow method is applied to simulate focused wave interaction with a fixed vertical cylinder. In the present method, an in-house computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code is coupled with a potential wave generation library MrNWB (Mooring/riser Numerical Wave Basin) based on Euler Overlay Method (EOM). Free surface elevation and dynamic pressure on the cylinder are calculated and discussed. The results of the present method are compared with the data of a benchmark model test. Comparisons show that the coupled potential-viscous flow method has reasonably good accuracy in predicting free surface elevation and dynamic pressure on cylindrical structures.