Transient response of harbours to long waves under resonance conditions

This paper presents the results of a study aimed at quantifying the time–response of harbour basins to long waves under resonance conditions. On the basis of numerical simulations reproducing long waves in the yacht harbour of Rome (Ostia, Italy), it shows that the results valid for periodic forcing waves, acting for an infinitely long time, as those provided by models based on elliptic equations like the Helmoltz and the mild-slope equations, can be misleading with respect to the more realistic ones that can be obtained using time-varying wave equations. Taking advantage of the similarity between the processes studied here and a simple one-dimensional resonator, a method is also proposed to roughly estimate a time–response parameter of each mode of the harbour, using results from steady-state numerical model results, commonly applied for studying harbour resonance in engineering practice. On the basis of further numerical simulations, aimed at reproducing schematic harbour layouts, the effect on resonance of the position of the entrance and of an outer harbour is studied. The results indicate that the effects of design solutions to reduce resonance, by placing the entrance at the middle of the harbour, or using the outer harbour as a resonator, can be correctly evaluated only when considering the time needed for the oscillations to fully develop.