Effect of a submerged plate on the near-bed dynamics underincoming waves in deep water conditions

•Large scale tridimensional experiment on wave–current interaction in the presence of a submerged plate.•Very strong bottom pression oscillations at the wave frequency under the plate in deep water wave conditions.•Discussion on the bottom velocity oscillation.•Discussion on the corresponding field bottom hydrodynamics through a Froude scaling for the hydrodynamics.

It is well known that wave induced bottom oscillations become more and more negligible when the water depth exceeds half the wavelength of the surface gravity wave. However, it was experimentally demonstrated for regular waves that the bottom pressure oscillations at both first and second wave harmonic frequencies could be significant even for incoming waves propagating in deep water condition in the presence of a submerged plate [16]. For a water depth h of about the wavelength of the wave, measurements under the plate (depth immersion of top of plate h/6, length h/2) have shown bottom pressure variations at the wave frequency, up to thirty times larger than the pressure expected in the absence of the plate. In this paper, not only regular but also irregular wave are studied together with wave following current conditions. This behavior is numerically verified by use of a classical linear theory of waves. The wave bottom effect is explained through the role of evanescent modes and horizontally oscillating water column under the plate which still exist whatever the water depth. Such a model, which allows the calculation of the velocity fields, has shown that not only the bottom pressure but also the near bed fluid velocity are enhanced. Two maxima are observed on both sides of the location of the plate, at a distance of the plate increasing with the water depth. The possible impact of such near bed dynamics is then discussed for field conditions thanks to a scaling based on a Froude similarity. It is demonstrated that these structures may have a significant impact at the sea bed even in very deep water conditions, possibly enhanced in the presence of current.