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Comparison of Idealised Wave Spectrum Models and Their Effect on the Design

Wave Environment
JEE306 – Assignment 1 – Thomas Fallon 207202

Abstract
This report compares two versions of the Pierson-Moskowitz and JONSWAP wave spectrum models. These spectra
were implemented in a numerical code and compared to wave data for validation. The effect of the variation of
input parameters was studied and results compared. It was found that increase in wind speed for both spectrum
models led to an increase in the energy density peak and a decrease in the peak frequency. It was also found that
the fetch input parameter used in the JONSWAP spectrum reflects the change from developing to a fully developed
sea state.
is only dependent on one variable, wind speed (U (ms-
1
Introduction )), and the equation is given below.
𝜔 4
Predicting wave conditions and the energy that they 𝛼𝑔2 −𝛽( 0 )
𝑆(𝜔) = 𝜔5 𝑒 𝜔 (1)
will translate to ship or offshore structures is a vital
Where g=9.81ms =8.1 x 10 , =0.74 and 0=g/U.
-2 -3
part of structural design, as it provides the design
2) JONSWAP Spectrum
loads. To be able to characterise the chaotic nature
This spectrum was developed using measurements
of the ocean surface into a mathematical model,
taken during the Joint North Sea Wave Project
idealisations of the environment must be made. It is
(JONSWAP) by Hasselmann 1973 and is a
assumed that the irregular sea state is made up of
modification of the P-M spectrum used to describe
many regular wave components all moving in the
fetch limited regions. This is particularly useful for
same direction. By assuming this irregular wave
engineering application in areas such as the North
environment at a fixed point, the wave components
Sea. The spectrum is defined by the following
can be defined in a variance spectrum (S()) which
equation.
gives the wave energy density with respect to circular (𝜔−𝜔𝑚 )2
5 𝜔 −4 𝑒𝑥𝑝( )
wave frequency (). While this method can represent −5 2𝜎2 𝜔2
𝑆(𝜔) = 𝛼𝑔𝜔 𝑒𝑥𝑝 (− 4 𝜔 ) 𝛾 𝑚 (2)
𝑚
a specified wave environment fairly accurately,
Where =3.3, =0.07 when <m otherwise =0.09
spectra can vary dramatically even for similar
when >m, =0.076 x̄-0.22, m=2fmg/V, x̄=gx/V2,
significant wave heights. It is therefore necessary to
fm=3.5 x̄-0.33, x is the fetch and V is the wind speed in
utilise idealised spectra which use a small number of
ms-1.
parameters to describe a sea state. These can then be
Using these spectral density equations, the spectral
used in the analysis of ships or offshore structures by
moments (Equation 3) can be calculated and then be
varying the input parameters to reflect different load
used to determine the wave statistics such as mean
conditions.
wave height (T1) (Equation 4), zero upcrossing period
This paper compares the effects of several variables
(Tz) (Equation 5), significant wave height (Hs)
on two commonly used waves spectrums. The
(Equation 6) and maximum wave height (Hmax)
Pierson-Moskowitz (P-M) and JONSWAP spectrums
(Equation 7).
were investigated and the effects of wind speed, ∞
fetch and given factors, compared to observe the 𝑚𝑛 = ∫0 𝑓 𝑛 𝑆(𝜔)𝑑𝜔 (3)
𝑚0
dependence of the spectra on these variables. 𝑇1 = 𝑚 (4)
1
𝑚
𝑇𝑧 = √𝑚0 (5)
Theory 2

Various spectral models have been developed to 𝐻𝑠 = 4√𝑚0 (6)


describe certain ocean environments of interest with 𝐻𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 1.86𝐻𝑠 (7)
two common spectral families described below.
1) Pierson-Moskowitz Spectrum Methodology
This spectrum was developed by Pierson and The spectra were compared by using the above
Moskowitz 1964 to describe a fully developed sea. It equations for the JONSWAP and Pierson-Moskowitz
spectra and plotting them against a typical wave M4 (m) 0.1710 0.2486 0.3262
frequency range for wind waves (approx. 0.5-30s Hs (m) 0.1916 0.3411 0.5331
period) (Munk 2010). This was done in MATLAB which Tz (s) 1.6063 2.1120 2.6228
also allowed wave statistics to be calculated and T1 (s) 1.7101 2.2652 2.8243
compared. Hmax (m) 0.3565 0.6344 0.9916
For the Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum, the parameters
of wind speed, alpha and beta were varied to The increase in wind speed leads to an increase in
investigate the effect this had on the shape of the both the significant wave height and zero upcrossing
spectrum. Similarly, the wind speed, fetch and period as would be expected. This test was
gamma values were varied to investigate the effects conducted with the JONSWAP spectrum and similar
on the JONSWAP spectrum. They were varied so that results were obtained.
the peaks of each spectrum were easily visible within The additional effect of the fetch length in the
the prescribed wind frequency range. Each JONSWAP spectrum is compared in Figure 2 below by
parameter was varied independently 3 times so that varying values between 1000m and 10000m.
the changes could be visualised.
The results of this were also compared with a
spectrum presented by DNV 2007 as well as gathered
data presented in Stewart 2009.

Results and Discussion


To demonstrate the effect of changing variables in
the P-M spectrum, the wind speed was varied
between 3 and 5 ms-1, as shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 2: Fetch comparison for JONSWAP spectrum

It can be seen that increasing the fetch reduces the


peak frequency but increased the peak spectral
energy dramatically, not dissimilar to varying the
wind speed in Figure 1. This show that a lower fetch
value describes smaller period, developing seas such
as those presented in Techet 2006.
A comparison between P-M, JONSWAP, DNV
prescribed spectra and observed wave data is shown
Figure 1: Wind Speed Comparison, P-M Spectrum
below in Figure 3.
Figure 1 shows that as the wind speed decreases, the
spectral energy decreases and the peak frequency
increases. The wave statistics for this parameter
variation can be seen below in Table 1.

Table 1: Wave statistics for wind speed comparisons

Wind Speed (ms-1)


3 4 5
M0 (m) 0.0023 0.0073 0.0178
M1 (m) 0.0084 0.0202 0.0395
M2 (m) 0.0351 0.0643 0.1018
M3 (m) 0.1710 0.2486 0.3262
energy density peak and decreased peak
frequency
 Decreases in the fetch length lead to a
decrease in peak energy density and increase
in peak frequency.
 It was found that JONSWAP spectrum
describes developing seas well due to its
fetch input parameter
 Different forms of the P-M and JONSWAP
equations can be used to extract similar
results with different input parameters
 Both versions of the P-M spectrum were
found to closely agree with wave data
Figure 3: Comparison between spectra The comparison between the input parameters and
output spectra for all spectral models shows that the
The equations given by DNV are shown below in MATLAB code produced accurate results and
Equations 8 & 9. The difference between Equations 1 therefore the conclusions drawn from them
& 2 and those given below are the main parameters reasonable. Both the P-M and JONSWAP equations
prescribed by the user to develop the equation (these represent idealised variance spectra for the given
equations use Hs and Tp to describe the spectrum conditions allowing them to be used for the design of
while the previous equations use wind speed only). ships and offshore structures with confidence.
−4
5 5 𝜔
𝑆𝑃𝑀 (𝜔 ) = 16 𝐻𝑠2 𝜔𝑃4 𝜔−5 𝑒𝑥𝑝 (− 4 (𝜔 ) ) (8)
𝑝
References
Where p=2/Tp, and Tp is the peak period. DNV (2007). Environmental Conditions and
𝜔−𝜔𝑝 2
𝑒𝑥𝑝(−0.5( ) ) Environmental Loads. DNV-RP-C205, Det Norske
𝜎𝜔𝑝
𝑆𝐽 (𝜔) = 𝐴𝛾 𝑆𝑃𝑀 (𝜔)𝛾 (9) Veritas.
Where A =1-0.287ln() and =3.3.
The wind speed values used for the P-M and Hasselmann, K. (1973). Measurements of Wind-wave
JONSWAP spectrums in Figure 3 was 20.6 ms-1. It was Growth and Swell Decay During the Joint North Sea
found that a peak period of 7.6s matched the peak Wave Project (JONSWAP), Deutsches
described by the P-M spectrum and 200km fetch Hydrographisches Institut.
JONSWAP spectrum. It was found that the Hs value
required to match both of the spectra changed with Munk, W. H. (2010). "ORIGIN AND GENERATION OF
each of the DNV curves. The Hs value used for the WAVES." 2010(1).
JONSWAP spectrum was 3.025m and 2.25m for the P-
M spectrum. The wave data plotted in the figure Pierson, W. J. and L. Moskowitz (1964). "A proposed
matched fairly closely with both versions of the P-M spectral form for fully developed wind seas based on
spectrum which was to be expected as the observed the similarity theory of S. A. Kitaigorodskii." Journal
wave data plotted described a fully developed sea of Geophysical Research 69(24): 5181.
state with a wind speed of 40 knots. It shows
reasonably good correlation with both the original Stewart, R. H. (2009). Introduction to Physical
and DNV P-M spectra with only a small deviation in Oceanography, University Press of Florida.
peak frequency and peak energy density.
Techet, A. (2006). 2.011 Introduction to Ocean
Conclusion Science and Engineering. https://ocw.mit.edu/.,
The results from this study show how the P-M and Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT
JONSWAP spectral models change with variation of OpenCourseWare.
their governing parameters. The following
conclusions can be made from the results obtained:
 Increases in the wind speed for both the P-M
and JONSWAP spectra leads to increased

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