{"title":"Benchmark of numerical modeling approaches on the systematic performance evaluation of wave energy converters","authors":"Jian Tan , Ryan G. Coe , George Lavidas","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104725","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104725","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Different numerical modeling methods have been developed and applied to evaluate a variety of performance indicators of wave energy converters (WECs), including the power performance, structural loads, levelized cost of energy, etc. Based on the modeling fidelity, the commonly used numerical modeling approaches can be classified as linear modeling, weakly nonlinear modeling and fully nonlinear modeling approaches. Each method differs in accuracy and computational efficiency, making them suitable for different stages of WEC design. However, the selection of modeling approach could significantly impact evaluation outcomes. For instance, simplified linear models may underestimate structural loads or overestimate energy production in some operational conditions, potentially leading to less cost-effective designs. Given the widespread utilization of these models, it is essential to understand the uncertainties brought by them in performance evaluations. This work is dedicated to benchmarking different linear-potential-flow-based numerical models for evaluating the systematic performance of WECs. Three representative numerical modeling approaches are considered in this work, including linear frequency-domain modeling, statistically linearized spectral-domain modeling and Cummins equation-based nonlinear time-domain modeling. A generic point absorber WEC is considered as the research reference in this work, and different sea sites are taken into account. The numerical models are utilized to predict critical performance indicators, including power performance, the annual energy production, the capacity factor, the levelized cost of energy and the PTO fatigue loads. By comparing the results, this work identifies the uncertainties associated with different modeling approaches in evaluating WEC performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104725"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144860407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Caichao Lv , Ning Song , Jie Nie, Min Ye, Xinyue Liang, Dongning Jia, Xin Ni
{"title":"Hybrid wave height forecasting via integrated physics-based simulation and data-driven correction with contrastive feature fusion","authors":"Caichao Lv , Ning Song , Jie Nie, Min Ye, Xinyue Liang, Dongning Jia, Xin Ni","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104729","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104729","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Significant wave height forecasting plays a crucial role in marine engineering, navigation safety, coastal protection, and climate research. However, traditional physics-based numerical simulation methods and purely data-driven models each have inherent limitations. The former require significant computational resources for high-resolution, large-scale simulations and demand stringent initial and boundary conditions, while the latter often fail to accurately capture the underlying physical dynamics of wave processes under sparse observational data or extreme sea conditions. To address these challenges, this study proposes an innovative hybrid forecasting framework that integrates physics-based numerical modeling with data-driven approaches, thereby achieving both physical plausibility and high prediction accuracy in wave height forecasting. The framework first employs numerical models such as WAVEWATCH III – which solves the wave action balance equation – to generate preliminary predictions based on fundamental wave dynamics. These predictions are then refined by a data-driven correction module comprising three submodules: the Edge-Enhanced Wind-Wave Fusion (EWF) module, which enhances the input wave height data by incorporating edge information via the Sobel operator and fuses it with the corresponding wind field information to capture critical wind-wave interactions; the Bidirectional Temporal Feature Fusion (BTFF) module, which integrates geographical spatial information and wave activity weights while employing bidirectional temporal propagation to effectively capture both short-term and long-term nonlinear temporal dependencies; and the Wave-Adaptive Filter (WAF) module, which employs adaptive kernel estimation and spatial displacement prediction to extract and enhance multi-scale local wave features. Finally, a contrastive learning-based feature fusion mechanism projects the physics-based and data-driven predictions into a shared latent space, achieving deep integration of complementary information. Experimental results demonstrate that our model has achieved state-of-the-art performance on the ERA5 dataset.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104729"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144866423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The variability of wave-in-deck loading in random seas: a data-driven approach","authors":"Chong Huo, Li Ma, Ioannis Karmpadakis","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104726","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104726","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates wave-in-deck (<span>wid</span>) loading in random sea-states. These are among the most severe forces experienced by offshore structures and a critical factor in assessing their reliability. Earlier research demonstrated that <span>wid</span> loading is fundamentally determined by a momentum-exchange process governed by the properties of both the incident wave and the topside structure. However, observations made in quasi-deterministic (<span>qd</span>) focused waves did not fully explain the larger variability (uncertainties) of the loading observed in realistic random sea-states, which is an essential consideration for a full reliability analysis.</div><div>To address this gap, <span>wid</span> loading measurements were conducted across a broad range of random sea-states using a realistic model topside structure. The resulting large dataset was analysed using a data-driven methodology to identify the key factors influencing maximum <span>wid</span> loads. The findings confirm the significance of incident wave momentum. Importantly, the results highlight the increased influence of the spatial and temporal evolution of the incident waves relative to the topside. It is evident that the more diverse forms of wave evolution in random seas account for the increased variability in <span>wid</span> loads. This was further demonstrated through a novel data-driven model, which accurately reproduced short-term <span>wid</span> loading distributions using only a small set of inputs derived from free-field wave data. The general applicability of the model across different sea-states without re-training allows more efficient reliability assessments, significantly reducing the need for extensive model testing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104726"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144852577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experiment research on damage effect of underwater multipoint synchronous explosion on semi-cylindrical shell","authors":"Zhifan Zhang , Yuxi Zhao , Longkan Wang , Wenqi Zhang , Guiyong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104735","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104735","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study uses experimental methods to investigate the damage characteristics of typical underwater structures under synchronous array charge underwater explosions. Small-scale underwater explosion tests are conducted in a water tank to study the damage characteristics of reinforced annular cylindrical shells under the detonation of a three-charge array and an equivalent single charge. A comparative analysis is conducted to explore the effect of fixed spacing triangular and linear charge arrangements on the structural damage characteristics. The results show that shell collapse is observed under array charge conditions, with the deformation range increasing by 39 % compared to the single charge condition. In terms of backplate damage, the impact of array charges is more significant, and severe secondary damage is observed. The ALE method is further employed to establish a numerical model of underwater array explosion damage for a semi-cylindrical shell. The impact of different spacings for two arrangement configurations is then analyzed. In the triangular arr angement, when the spacing-to-radius ratio exceeds 6, the damage effect starts to rapidly decrease. In the linear arrangement, the rupture size is inversely proportional to the spacing ratio, while the plastic deformation area is directly proportional to the spacing ratio.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104735"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144841973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rip current likelihood as a function of incident wave conditions for different bathymetries","authors":"Junwoo Choi , Steve Elgar , James T. Kirby","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104727","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104727","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The likelihood of rip currents as a function of water depth (tidal level), incident wave height, period, direction, and spectral spreading in both frequency and direction is investigated with a Boussinesq numerical model (FUNWAVE) for alongshore uniform, moderately variable, and strongly variable bathymetry, providing two-dimensional probability distributions of rip-current occurrence along the coast. The simulations suggest that over strongly irregular alongshore bathymetry rip-current likelihood increases with longer wave periods and narrower directional spectra. In contrast, over more uniform alongshore bathymetry, rip current likelihood increases with shorter wave periods and broader directional spectra. The simulations suggest that as bathymetric variability increases, the effects of different incident wave fields decreases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104727"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144831061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shuang Wang , Feng Han , Wei Zhu , Zhandong Wang , Feng Ma , Xiyu Jia , Dehui Zhao
{"title":"Study on the dynamic response and dynamic buckling modes of cylindrical shells under deep-water explosions","authors":"Shuang Wang , Feng Han , Wei Zhu , Zhandong Wang , Feng Ma , Xiyu Jia , Dehui Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104732","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104732","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper studies the deformation and dynamic buckling mechanisms of cylindrical shells subjected to explosive loads at varying water depths, through a combination of deep-water explosion experiments and numerical simulations. The underwater explosion experiments were conducted across different water depths, with high-speed photography used to capture the response process of the structure under the combined effects of dynamic loads (such as shock waves and bubble pulsations) and hydrostatic pressure loads. A deep-water explosion simulation model was established using LS-DYNA finite element software, and its accuracy was validated against experimental data. The results show that the response process of the cylindrical shells under dynamic-static coupled loads occurs in a sequence: initial hydrostatic pressure, shock wave-hydrostatic pressure coupling, water jet-hydrostatic pressure coupling, and finally hydrostatic pressure, each stage exhibiting distinct response characteristics. The dynamic-static coupled loads induced overall buckling of the structure at only 42.9% of the critical buckling pressure, resulting in significant deformation even at lower pressure conditions. Two modes of overall buckling were observed: mode 3 buckling at pressures slightly above the critical hydrostatic pressure, and mode 4 buckling under other conditions, consistent with the hydrostatic pressure buckling modes. The change in buckling mode is attributed to the relative relationship between the lateral and rear residual strength of the cylinder and the water pressure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104732"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144814011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A decade long high-resolution wave resource map for Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters - hindcast by two-way coupling of wave-current models","authors":"Tian Tan, Vengatesan Venugopal","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104730","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104730","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wave energy is a promising renewable resource globally, with the UK leading efforts in regions like Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters. These areas, known for their strong tidal currents and energetic waves, require accurate wave energy resource assessments. This study developed numerical models, including a wave-only and a coupled wave-current model, to simulate combined wave-current conditions over a decade (2014–2023), evaluating the influence of tidal currents. The models assessed interannual, seasonal, and monthly wave resource variations and the impacts of wave-current interactions.</div><div>First, a North Atlantic-scale wave-only model was constructed with TOMAWAC spectra wave model to simulate wave conditions without tidal influences and generate wave boundary conditions. Then, a regional wave-current model was developed by coupling TOMAWAC and TELEMAC. This coupled model used the wave boundary conditions from the large-scale North Atlantic model to obtain wave parameters including tidal effects. The North Atlantic wave model was validated against 10 years of continuous wave buoy data across four sites, while the regional wave-current model was verified with 135 days of Acoustic Wave and Current Profiler (AWAC) and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) deployments, ensuring model reliability.</div><div>The results reveal significant spatial and temporal variations in wave energy resources, with pronounced tidal effects. Based on 10 years of data, including tidal currents in the model, substantially decreases mean wave height and mean wave power in the northern and southern regions of the Orkney Islands and Stroma Island in the Pentland Firth. Near Stroma Island, wave height reductions can reach up to 0.5 m (a 25 % reduction compared to the wave-only scenario), and wave power decreases by 6 kW/m (over 50 % reduction). Conversely, wave power increases at tidal inlets such as Pentland Firth, Hoy Mouth, and Westray Firth, with a 10-year average increase of up to 7.7 kW/m (22 %) at Westray Firth. Long-term data indicate that wave-current interactions vary significantly by season, month, and year, with notable changes during winter and high-wave periods. Extreme wave conditions are also amplified by tidal currents, particularly at the tidal inlets within the regional model. The findings could benefit not just the wave energy industry, but also other fields concerned with wave-current dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104730"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144779314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhibo Chen , Feng Chen , Haibo Liu , Guangwei Cao , Wei Huang
{"title":"Dynamic response of offshore wind turbine monopile foundations in layered soils under wind, wave and earthquake actions","authors":"Zhibo Chen , Feng Chen , Haibo Liu , Guangwei Cao , Wei Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104728","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104728","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Earthquakes occur frequently in China’s southeast coastal areas. Therefore, in this region, offshore wind turbine (OWT) structures are highly likely to be simultaneously affected by wind, waves and earthquakes. Firstly, based on the wave theory and Snell’s law, this paper deduces the formulas for the equivalent seismic nodal force of layered soils suitable for viscoelastic artificial boundaries. Compared with a method that employs an average modulus to calculate the seismic motion input of layered soils, the proposed formulas enable more accurate simulation of seismic wave propagation in layered soils. Based on the formulas, an integrated numerical model incorporating a nacelle, tower, monopile and layered seabed is established to analyse the dynamic response of large-diameter monopiles of OWTs under stochastic wind, wave and seismic loads. The analysis results show that the displacement and stress responses under combined wind-wave loads are larger than those under the individual wind/wave load, showing obvious amplification effects, but the maximum acceleration at the mudline indicates an inhibitory effect, which is not consistent with a superposition principle. Under the combined wind-wave-seismic loads, the monopile acceleration is primarily attributable to the seismic load, with wind and wave loads mitigating the acceleration response caused by the seismic load. Moreover, the seismic load has little effect on the monopile’s stress but increases its displacement, especially at the mudline. Thus, additional treatment for foundation deformation is needed for the monopile design in seismic areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104728"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144779306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lin He , Binbin Zhao , Masoud Hayatdavoodi , R. Cengiz Ertekin
{"title":"Three-dimensional deep-water focusing waves by Irrotational Green–Naghdi equations","authors":"Lin He , Binbin Zhao , Masoud Hayatdavoodi , R. Cengiz Ertekin","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104698","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104698","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nonlinear interactions and the superposition of various wave groups can generate rogue waves with extreme heights in oceans that significantly affects the ocean dynamics. A comprehensive understanding of these phenomena is essential for accurate wave-force analysis. This study introduces the Irrotational Green–Naghdi (IGN) deep-water equations designed to study, specifically, the propagation and generation of three-dimensional focused waves. The proposed equations employ finite-difference methods for spatial discretization on a Cartesian grid and use the Adams time-stepping scheme for temporal iterations. Discussion is provided on identifying the optimized value of the representative wave-number. The proposed IGN equations are compared with focused wave experimental measurements and second-order wave theory results. These reveal that the selected representative wave-number significantly affects the computational efficiency: an appropriate value enables rapid algorithm convergence with high accuracy, whereas unsuitable values yield slower convergence and reduced efficiency. The wave surface profiles generated by the IGN equations at the focal location exhibit excellent agreement with experimental data, both before and after the focus. In addition, the velocity field along the water depth at the focal time closely matches the experimental velocity field.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104698"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144772415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lei Feng , Guoping Ding , Yefa Hu , Wenhao Song , Zhiyang Lei
{"title":"Identification of distributed loads on propellers based on strain modal","authors":"Lei Feng , Guoping Ding , Yefa Hu , Wenhao Song , Zhiyang Lei","doi":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104712","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apor.2025.104712","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Most noise and vibration produced during a ship's operation is attributable to the surface forces exerted on the propeller. Direct measurement of the load via sensors is challenging due to technological and economic limitations. This paper carries out an initial investigation on the distributed load identification technology of the propeller in the frequency domain and the generalized orthogonal domain, using the single-blade propeller as the research object and fully utilizing the unique benefits of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors, including their small size, lightweight, resistance to corrosion, and ease of forming a sensing network. Simultaneously, the identification model for the propeller's distributed load is formulated based on the strain model and the Chebyshev orthogonal polynomial. To confirm the efficacy and precision of the developed model, the propeller's harmonic response is analyzed using the ANSYS workbench. Ultimately, the amplitude of the stress on the propeller is determined through the integration of simulation and experiment. The validity and accuracy of the model established are further confirmed by the identification error, which is <11 %.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8261,"journal":{"name":"Applied Ocean Research","volume":"162 ","pages":"Article 104712"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144749936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}