Performance Assessment Of Two Active Absorption Systems In A Large Wave Flume

Abstract

The quality of most coastal or ocean laboratory experiment depends on the accuracy, uniformity and stability of the generated waves. Generation of waves in the laboratory seems simple, but it should consider the spatio-temporal variability of the wave profile. As they propagate, waves interact with the boundaries, i.e. changes in water depth, lateral walls, test specimens, instrument supporting structures, passive absorbers, etc., as well as with varying hydrodynamic conditions (wave-induced currents, wave-wave interactions, or nonlinear energy transfer, among others). Reflected, scattered and radiated waves may propagate back to the wave generator and reflect back. Re-reflections from the wave generator may be a non-realistic representation of the intended wave field, to the extent that the total energy content in the testing facility may increase significantly and uncontrollably.

Theoretically, for weakly nonlinear unidirectional waves propagating over a relatively small number of wavelengths, and as long as the still water depth and facility width does not change, the wave properties should remain constant in space and time, which can be identified as the uniformity and stability of the waves. Under these conditions, nonuniform or unsteady wave properties can be associated to an inadequate selection of the wave theory (Airy, Stokes n-order, Cnoidal, Stream Function, etc., e.g. Fenton 1999), the approximation of the wave generation technique (first or second order, nonlinear - see e.g. Mohtat et al., 2020), formation of wave instabilities (e.g. Benjamin-Feir, 1967), wave reflection, scattering or radiation, and the performance of the active wave absorption system. It can be said that the performance of the active wave absorption control system is one of the responsible factors that can affect directly the quality of the generated waves.

Many laboratories have implemented different passive and active wave absorption systems, but the performance on the uniformity and stability of the generated waves, as well as the performance of the active wave absorption system used, have not been assessed in a systematic way, and related published data and information is quite scarce, with few interesting exceptions, e.g. (Lykke-Andersen, 2016; Spinneken 2010; Schäffer and Skourup 1996). However, a direct comparison among the different available active wave absorption control systems is still missing.

This paper presents a thorough experimental study on the performance assessment of two different active wave absorption control systems (MTS and Awasys7) as a means to establish the quality of the experiment in terms of the uniformity (space) and stability (time) of generated wave parameters (descriptors) in the laboratory.