Dynamic Wave Pressures on Deeply Embedded Large Cylindrical Structures due to Random Waves

The response of dynamic wave pressures on structures would be more complicated and bring about new phenomena under the dynamic interaction between soil and structure. In order to better understand the response characteristics on deeply embedded large cylindrical structures under random waves, and accordingly to offer valuable findings for engineering, the authors designed wave flume experiments to investigate comparatively dynamic wave pressures on a single and on continuous cylinders with two different embedment depths in response to two wave spectra.The time histories of the water surface elevation and the corresponding dynamic wave pressures exerted on the cylinder were analyzed in the frequency domain. By calculating the transfer function and spectral density for dynamic wave pressures along the height and around the circumference of the cylinder, experimental results of the single cylinder were compared with the theoretical results based on the linear diffraction theory, and detailed comparisons were also carried out between the single and continuous cylinders. Some new findings and the corresponding analysis are reported in present paper. The investigation on continuous cylinders will be used in particular for reference in engineering applications because information is scarce on studying such kind of problem both analytically and experimentally.