Second-order coupling of numerical and physical wave tanks for 2D irregular waves. Part I: Formulation, implementation and numerical properties

In this series of two papers, we report on the irregular wave extension of the second-order coupling theory of numerical and physical wave model described in [Z. Yang, S. Liu, H.B. Bingham and J. Li. Second-order theory for coupling numerical and physical wave tanks: Derivation, evaluation and experimental validation. Coast. Eng. 71,37-511. We also correct several errors which unfortunately appeared in that manuscript. In the present part I, the full second-order coupling theory for irregular wave is described in detail. The new second-order coupling signal is presented including both superharmonics and subharmonics and covering wavemaker configurations of the piston- and flap-types. The second-order dispersive correction allows for an improved nonlinear transfer of wave information between the two models. For practical implementation, the coupling equations are solved by a combined five-point Lagrange interpolation and the fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme, with a numerical velocity time series which is decomposed by the Newton-Raphson iterative method. Analytical evaluations on the suppression of spurious free waves and the relative errors of the resultant bound waves have been conducted by considering a 2nd-order, bi-chromatic wave over a range of dimensionless water depth and oscillation frequency combinations, indicating that the resultant wave quality is significantly improved using the second-order coupling theory. A separate verification combining numerical and experimental model of the theory will be presented in Part II by the same authors. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.