A semi-analytical model to calculate forces exerted on horizontal cylinder by a solitary wave

Several authors have studied the solitary wave load on a submerged horizontal cylinder. In the present work, a semi analytical expression of the horizontal force exerted by a solitary wave on a horizontal cylinder is derived. The formula is based on the speed drop factor Fr, that is the ratio (greater than one) between the time needed by the wave pressure to cross the solid body and the travel time across a transparent cylinder. The Fr, is calculated numerically by means of the Boundary Element Method on assuming that a solitary wave and a periodic wave having the same wavelength undergoes the same slowing down. (Clearly the wavelength for the solitary wave is estimated approximately.) Abaci for the Fr, as a function of the ratio between the diameter and the wavelength, for assigned A/d (= amplitude of the solitary wave / bottom depth) have obtained. In order to check the appropriateness of BEM, we carried out an experiment in a numerical wave flume, using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique.