Theoretical Analysis of a Vertical Cylindrical Floater in Front of an Orthogonal Breakwater

This study investigates the effect of an orthogonal-shaped reflecting breakwater on the hydrodynamic characteristics of a vertical cylindrical body. The reflecting walls are placed behind the body, which can be conceived as a floater for wave energy absorption. Linear potential theory is assumed, and the associated diffraction and motion radiation problems are solved in the frequency domain. Axisymmetric eigenfunction expansions of the velocity potential are introduced into properly defined ring-shaped fluid regions surrounding the floater. The hydrodynamic interaction phenomena between the body and the adjacent breakwaters are exactly taken into account by using the method of images. Results are presented and discussed concerning the exciting wave forces on the floater and its hydrodynamic coefficients, concluding that the hydrodynamics of a vertical cylindrical body in front of an orthogonally shaped breakwater differ from those in unbounded waters.