Wave Excitations on a Body in a Bifurcated Three-Dimensional Channel

A numerical method for a wave diffraction problem in three-dimensional channels is developed. The physical models are various shapes of channel connected to the open sea. When a ship or an offshore structure is moored in various configurations of channel connected to an open sea, the prediction of the hydrodynamic force exerting on the moored ship could be important for the prediction of its motion. It is assumed that the fluid is inviscid and incompressible and its motion is irrotational. From the continuity equation, the Laplace equation can be obtained as the governing equation. The surface tension at free surface is neglected, and wave amplitude is assumed to be small compared to the wave length. Then the free surface condition can be linearized. The numerical method used here is the localized finite element method based on a variational formulation