Regular waves onto a truncated circular column: A comparison of experiments and simulations

Accurate prediction of hydrodynamic forces on offshore structures is critical for safe and cost effective design of fixed and floating offshore structures exposed to a harsh environment. In the present paper, nonlinear interactions between regular waves and a single surface-piercing truncated circular column have been investigated using a frequency domain potential flow solver (DIFFRACT) and a full CFD solver in OpenFOAM for direct comparisons. Both the predicted free surface elevation around the column and the total force acting on the column have been analysed and compared with experimental data from MOERI. The degree of non-linearity and the contribution of each harmonic to the free surface run-up and wave forces have been examined, and evaluations of the accuracy and computational efficiency of the potential flow solver and the full CFD solver are provided and compared in the paper. Also of note are the local forms of the scattered waves around the column in numerical simulations, which are consistent with the Type-1 and Type-2 patterns identified in physical experiments at Imperial College.