Faster than real-time, phase-resolving, data-driven model of wave propagation and wave–structure interaction

A machine learning time-series prediction approach is proposed for wave propagation and wave load prediction. Under unidirectional wave conditions and variable bathymetry, given a wave gauge upstream, a model is shown to reproduce wave elevation or wave forces downstream under irregular steep and either non-breaking or breaking conditions. Attempts to perform the opposite calculation, predicting upstream conditions from downstream measurements, results in higher error, likely due to information loss under breaking conditions. For choice of machine learning approach, comparisons show that the Time-series Dense Encoder (TiDE) approach results in a good balance between model complexity, stability, computational time, and error. Over a flat bottom, time-series of wave elevation can be predicted up to 10 wavelengths away, though with a degraded accuracy compared to shorter distances. Similar results are shown for time-series of forces on a vertical cylinder, showing better results than a simple Morison approach, as used in engineering tools such as OpenFAST, but with a similarly fast computational time. Generalizations show that training on irregular wave data permit extrapolations to periodic wave cases. Finally, the same method also is also demonstrated at field-scale, comparing results between two offshore buoys.