Review of Numerical Modeling of Water Waves by Pengzhi Lin

In the last two decades, myriad numerical models and modeling techniques have been developed for simulating the properties and behavior of ocean waves under a variety of conditions. These include models for coastal wave propagation, wave agitation in harbors, overtopping of seawalls, wave-structure interaction, etc. Thanks to recent advances that have occurred in the past 20 years in computing power, both large-scale ocean and refined localscale coastal wave modeling can now be performed. The modeling techniques are based on a variety of governing equations, including Laplace equation, Boussinesq equations, Navier-Stokes equations, energy-balance equations, etc., involving either the steady or the unsteady mode, and either one, two, or three dimensions as well as numerous approximations. The numerical techniques also display wide variation: finite differences, finite elements, boundary elements, volume of fluid, meshless computations, etc. This explosion of modeling methods is certainly admirable and attests to the dynamism of the field; however, it sometimes confronts practitioners engineers needing models for project applications, researchers, model developers, and managers with confusion, because the pros and cons of certain models vis-a-vis others are infrequently discussed. This issue has occasionally been addressed in brief review papers Panchang et al. 1999; Isobe 1999, but Professor Pengzhi Lin’s recent book Numerical Modeling of Water Waves is, simply stated, a superb contribution. It is comprehensive and authoritative, covering practically the entire spectrum of modeling applications and methodologies that one encounters in this field. It is a