SECOND-ORDER RANDOM OCEAN WAVES: PREDICTION OF TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIATION

WAVEMAKER is a FORTRAN subroutine to simulate random non-Gaussian ocean wave histories. It generates a first-order (Gaussian) wave process with an arbitrary power spectrum, and applies nonlinear corrections based on second-order hydrodynamics. Inputs to the routine include the first-order spectrum, the water depth, and a set of locations in the along-wave direction at which wave elevation histories are desired. It may thus provide useful input to estimate loads on spatially distributed ocean structures and ships. The WAVEMAKER package also includes a separate driver program, which facilitates input/output and generates several analytical spectral models. Its input is specified in command-line format, similar to that of the TFPOP program for hydrodynamic post-processing also developed in the Stanford RMS program. An example problem is included to demonstrate the use of WAVEMAKER and its driver. In terms of methodology, WAVEMAKER uses standard frequency domain methods to generate first-order Gaussian histories at each location. For each of these, WAVEMAKER evaluates the full set of second-order corrections according to hydrodynamic theory. Thus the first-order wave process, with N components at frequencies Wn, gives rise to a total of N2 corrections, spread over all sum frequencies Wn + Wm, and to another N2 corrections over all difference frequencies Wn - Wm.