Wave Fields Diffracted by an Array of Porous Circular Cylinders

In the present work, the diffraction of waves by an array of porous circular cylinders with or without an inner porous plate is considered in detail based on the linear wave theory. For the sake of designing more effective floating breakwaters, the transmission rate of waves propagating through the array is also calculated. Each cylinder is partly made of porous materials. Namely, it possesses a porous sidewall and an impermeable bottom. In addition, an inner porous plate is fixed horizontally inside the cylinders, which works as obstruction to make wave dissipate more effectively and eliminates the phenomenon of sloshing mode. To deal with hydrodynamic interactions among a great number of bodies, a hierarchical interaction theory, which saves computation time efficiently, is adopted to compare with the approach of Kagemoto & Yue (1986). Consequently, a series of model test of an array of porous cylinder are carried out in the basin to validate the theoretical work and the calculation results. The draft of the cylinders, the location of the inner porous plate and the spacing between adjacent cylinders are adjusted to investigate its effect on the wave dissipation.Copyright © 2010 by ASME