Fully nonlinear analysis of near-trapping phenomenon around an array of cylinders

Abstract The wave diffraction around an array of fixed vertical circular cylinders is simulated in a numerical wave tank by using a fully nonlinear model in the time domain. The emphasis of the paper lies in the insightful investigation of the nonlinear properties of the near-trapping phenomenon associated with the multiple cylinders. The numerical model is validated by analytical solutions as well as experimental data for waves propagating past two and four vertical cylinders in certain arrangements. An array of four identical circular cylinders at the corners of a square with an incident wave along the diagonal of the square is the main focus here for investigating the near-trapping phenomenon. When near-trapping occurs, the present study shows that an extremely high wave elevation near the cylinders can be observed. At the same time, the hydrodynamic forces on different cylinders are found to be either in phase or out of phase, leading to some characteristic force patterns acting on the whole structure. Due to the nature of the numerical model adopted, nonlinearity at different orders can be captured using a harmonic analysis. In addition to first- and second-order near-trapping, the third-order (triple-frequency) nonlinear component is presented for the first time. For the configuration selected, it is found that at one specific incident wave frequency and direction one trapped mode is excited by second-order effects, while a different trapped mode (having similar symmetries) is excited by the third harmonic of the incident wave frequency.