Numerical Simulation Study on Wave Generation and Active Wave Absorption in a Circular Wave Basin Based on the Boundary Element Method

Abstract

The development of circular wave basins addresses limitations of traditional rectangular tanks in generating multi-directional waves and extreme sea states. However, specialized numerical tools for such basins remain scarce. This study presents an efficient three-dimensional time-domain numerical model based on potential flow theory and the boundary element method (BEM) for a circular basin with 50 wave-makers. Simulations for regular waves (wavelengths 0.6–2.0 m, steepness 3%) demonstrate excellent agreement between the simulated and analytical wave profiles, with the active wave absorption efficiency for these regular wave cases exceeding 99.5%. In additional generation-only tests, the model also reproduces complex waves, including rotating, circular focused, and specified-shaped focused waves. Results confirm the model’s high accuracy and stability, offering a robust tool for designing and researching circular wave basins.

Keywords

Boundary element method (BEM) / Circular wave basin / Numerical wave tank / Active wave absorption / Time-domain simulation

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Harbin Engineering University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

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