ARTICLE IN PRESS

Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515

www.elsevier.com/locate/oceaneng

Interaction of current and flexural gravity waves

J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo
Department of Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India
Received 9 November 2006; accepted 17 January 2007
Available online 7 February 2007

Abstract

The interaction between current and flexural gravity waves generated due to a floating elastic plate is analyzed in two dimensions under
the assumptions of linearized theory. For plane flexural gravity waves, explicit expressions for the water particle dynamics and trajectory
are derived. The effect of current on the wavelength, phase velocity and group velocity of the flexural gravity waves is analyzed.
Variations in wavelength and wave height due to the changes in current speed and direction are analyzed. Effects of structural rigidity
and water depth on wavelength are discussed in brief. Simple numerical computations are performed and presented graphically to
explain most of the theoretical findings in a lucid manner.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Flexural gravity waves; Current; Dispersion relation; Phase velocity; Group velocity

1. Introduction mentally and numerically the interaction between the linear

waves and currents and predicted the wavelength and
In the ocean, surface gravity waves travel over currents particle velocities under the waves. Craik (1985) gave an
that are driven by wind, tidal, thermal, and Coriolis effects. account of the gravity wave propagation through a slowly
There are opposing ebb currents which increase wave varying, depth independent, horizontal current with vari-
height and steepness, thus adding to the hazards of able depth. From engineering application point of view, it
navigation and damage to ships (Jonsson, 1980). Currents is essential to include the effect of current when there is a
with speeds exceeding 1 m/s are observed in most of the need to (i) calculate wave height from subsurface pressure
coastal areas of the world and due to the mutual recordings, (ii) perform refraction calculations and (iii)
interaction between waves and the underlying currents, determine water particle velocities and accelerations for the
the wave characteristics such as wavelength, wave period calculation of forces on ocean structures (Hedges, 1987).
and hence the phase and group velocities are altered Baddour and Song (1990) analyzed the interaction of
significantly, leading to a change in the structural load for current-free plane free surface waves of fixed frequency and
all types of marine structures. Taylor (1955) analyzed the a uniform wave-free current normal to the wave crest. They
action of (i) uniform current and (ii) a current with a linear obtained the wave height, wavelength and water depth
decrease in speed with depth with a view to using such after the interaction by solving a system of nonlinear
currents to prevent the passage of incoming waves from the equations numerically. Hartnack (2000) investigated the
sea. Peregrine (1976) discussed in detail the interaction of propagation of small amplitude water waves in a medium
gravity waves and currents keeping in mind the physical with steady uniform current and analyzed the physical
situations in the seas or rivers. Sarpkaya and Isaacson phenomena of change in wavelength and wave amplitude,
(1981) analyzed in brief some fundamental aspects of the and the theory of mass, momentum and energy conserva-
wave current interactions. Thomas (1981) studied experi- tion. Most of these studies are limited to wave interaction
with surface gravity waves.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 3222 283792; fax: +91 3222 255303. In recent decades, there has been a considerable interest
E-mail addresses: joydip@naval.iitkgp.ernet.in (J. Bhattacharjee), in analyzing the interaction of waves with very large
tsahoo1967@yahoo.com, tsahoo@naval.iitkgp.ernet.in (T. Sahoo). floating flexible structures due to their wide application in

0029-8018/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2007.01.004
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1506 J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515

both ocean engineering and cold region science and large floating structures and in other branches of mathe-
technology. In the construction of very large floating matical physics associated with fluid structure interaction.
structures such as floating airports, the structures are
considered flexible in nature. The floating ice sheets that 2. Mathematical formulation
cover a vast area of the ocean surface in the cold regions
are also modeled as flexible structures and are used for In the present study, the effect of uniform current on
various human activities. Surface gravity waves that various aspects of the flexural gravity wave propagation is
originate in the open sea interact with the floating flexible analyzed in the two-dimensional Cartesian co-ordinate
structures and penetrate into the region covered by the system ðx; yÞ with y-axis being vertically downward
flexible structures to generate flexural gravity waves. Wu positive, x-axis being horizontal and the fluid occupying
et al. (1995) applied the eigenfunction expansion-matching the region 1oxo1, 0oyoh in water of finite depth.
method to study the wave induced response of an elastic The flexural gravity waves are generated due to the
strip floating in water of finite depth. Watanabe et al. interaction of surface gravity waves with an infinitely
(2004) presented a survey on the research and develop- extended floating elastic plate of small thickness d that
ments of hydroelastic analysis of pontoon type very large occupies the undisturbed water surface 1oxo1, y ¼ 0.
floating structures. Chen et al. (2006) reviewed the We assume a uniform current flow U in the direction of the
hydroelasticity theories for global response of marine wave propagation underneath the floating elastic plate. In
structures. However, there is hardly any literature on the the linearized theory of water waves, the fluid is assumed to
propagation of flexural gravity waves in the presence of a be inviscid and incompressible and the motion is irrota-
current. The flexural gravity waves due to a steadily tional and time harmonic in nature with angular frequency
moving source on a floating ice sheet were studied by o. Thus, the associated total velocity potential Fðx; y; tÞ can
Davys et al. (1985) using asymptotic Fourier analysis. be expressed as Fðx; y; tÞ ¼ Ux þ fðx; y; tÞ, where fðx; y; tÞ
Schulkes et al. (1987) analyzed in brief the effect of uniform satisfies the partial differential equation
flow beneath an ice plate and analyzed various critical
aspects of the problem for both short and long wave cases. r2 f ¼ 0; in the fluid region (2.1)
Bhattacharjee and Sahoo (2006) analyzed the unsteady
along with the linearized kinematic and the dynamic
flexural gravity wave motion in the presence of uniform
boundary conditions at the elastic plate covered mean free
current by the application of integral transform and the
surface (y ¼ 0, for t40) as given by
method of stationary phase. In this context efforts are  
made to study the mutual interaction between the plane qf q q
¼ þU Z, (2.2)
flexural gravity waves and ocean currents. qy qt qx
In the present paper, the effect of uniform current on the
and
propagation of steady flexural gravity wave motion is
   
analyzed by considering the structure as a floating elastic q q q4 q2
plate. The problem is formulated as a boundary value þU f  D 4 þ g 2 þ g Z ¼ 0, (2.3)
qt qx qx qt
problem and analyzed in two dimensions using linearized
water wave theory. Since the surface is covered by an where D ¼ EI=r, g ¼ ri d=r, I ¼ d 3 =12ð1  n2 Þ, E is
elastic plate, the boundary condition of fifth order that Young’s modulus, r the water density, ri the elastic plate
makes the problem more complex in the presence of density, d the elastic plate thickness, U the uniform current
uniform current. The flexural gravity wave dispersion speed in positive x-direction, Zðx; tÞ the surface elevation, n
relation in presence of uniform current is analyzed to find the Poisson ratio and g the acceleration due to gravity. The
the group velocity, phase velocity and the wavelength of no flow condition at the bottom boundary yields
the flexural gravity wave propagating below the floating qf
elastic plate for both shallow and deep water waves. The ¼0 on y ¼ h. (2.4)
qy
horizontal and vertical components of water particle
velocity and acceleration and the subsurface pressure Combining the kinematic and the dynamic upper surface
below the elastic plate are obtained from the potential boundary conditions (2.2) and (2.3), the linearized plate
function for the sake of completeness of the discussion on covered surface boundary condition in the presence of
the wave motion. Further, the effect of change in current uniform current at the mean free surface y ¼ 0 is obtained
speed on the wave direction is analyzed using the law of as
wave action and Snell’s law of refraction. In addition, the    
q4 q2 qf q q 2
change in wave height is analyzed when there is a D 4þg 2þg ¼ þU f. (2.5)
qx qt qy qt qx
discontinuity in the current speed. Certain limiting cases
are analyzed in brief to predict the wave characteristics. Here, it is to be noted that due to the presence of the elastic
The present work will be of immense importance in the plate on the water surface, the boundary condition at the
analysis of a large class of problems on wave structure upper boundary is of higher order than the governing
interaction which may find application in the design of very equation, thus making the problem more complicated.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515 1507

NB: The linearized plate covered boundary condition 2

(2.5) is derived on the assumption that the wave and
current are having the same direction. However, replacing (Dk4-γω2+g)ktanhkh
U by U, the boundary condition for wave opposing
current can be derived. In the present paper, efforts are
1

Dispersion curve
made to analyze the effect of both following and opposing
current on the flexural gravity wave propagation.

3. Results and discussions (ω−Uk)2

0
In the present section, explicit expressions for the
components of velocity, acceleration along with the
trajectory of the water particles, wave height, wavelength, (Dk4-γω2+g)ktanhkh
phase and group velocity of the flexural gravity waves are (ω−Uk)2
derived in presence of uniform current. Numerical compu- -1
tations are performed for certain critical values of the -0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10
uniform current speed for which analytic expressions are wave number
derived for sake of clear understanding of various physical
situations. The range of values of the physical parameters Fig. 1. Real roots of the flexural gravity wave dispersion relation.
used in the numerical computations is as in the paper
of Balmforth and Craster (1999), which are widely used
for various realistic situations. However, the values of four complex roots in the four quadrants that represent the
the various physical quantities which are same unless decaying modes and an infinite number of purely
otherwise mentioned throughout the numerical computa- imaginary roots that correspond to the evanescent modes.
tions are given by n ¼ 0:3, g ¼ 9:81 m s2 , E ¼ 5 GPa, r ¼ In the context of the present paper, hereafter it is assumed
1025 kg m3 , ri ¼ 922:5 kg m3 . that the thickness of the floating elastic plate is small
compared to the wavelength of the flexural gravity waves
3.1. Wave dispersion relation and particle dynamics (i.e., gkoo1) so that the terms containing g are neglected.
This approximation is well within the range of physical
Considering that the plane flexural gravity wave justification as the thickness of the floating elastic plate
propagates with frequency o along with a steady uniform is negligible, so that the inertia of the water layer is
current velocity U in the direction of wave propagation, we much larger than the inertia of the thin elastic plate (see
assume that the surface elevation of the flexural gravity Schulkes et al., 1987). Hence, the dispersion relation can be
wave is of the form Zðx; tÞ ¼ ðH=2Þ cosðkx  otÞ, where H written as
is the wave height of a progressive flexural gravity wave.
ðDk4 þ gÞk tanh kh ¼ o2r . (3.3)
Using the boundary condition (2.5), the velocity potential
Fðx; y; tÞ can be obtained in the form In the linearized theory of water waves, at an arbitrary
4 2
HðDk  go þ gÞ point ðx; yÞ in the stationary frame of reference at any
Fðx; y; tÞ ¼ Ux  instant of time t, the horizontal and vertical components of
2ðo  UkÞ
velocity and acceleration u, v, ax and ay with respect to the
cosh kðh  yÞ
 sinðkx  otÞ, ð3:1Þ stationary frame of reference are given by
cosh kh  
where the wave number k satisfies the dispersion relation qF H cosh kðh  yÞ
u¼ ¼ U  ðo  UkÞ cosðkx  otÞ,
qx 2 sinh kh
ðDk4  go2 þ gÞk tanh kh ¼ o2r , (3.2)  
qF H sinh kðh  yÞ
where or ¼ o  kU is often termed as the Doppler-shifted v¼ ¼ ðo  UkÞ sinðkx  otÞ. ð3:4Þ
qy 2 sinh kh
frequency in the literature (Schulkes et al., 1987) and is
referred here as relative wave frequency with respect to the du H cosh kðh  yÞ
moving frame of reference with velocity U. It can be easily ax ¼ ¼  ðo  UkÞ2 sinðkx  otÞ,
dt 2 sinh kh
observed that replacing or by o will reduce the dispersion dv H sinh kðh  yÞ
relation (3.2) to that for flexural gravity waves in absence ay ¼ ¼  ðo  UkÞ2 cosðkx  otÞ. ð3:5Þ
dt 2 sinh kh
of current. The fifth degree dispersion equation (3.2) is
plotted in Fig. 1, which shows the existence of one positive The horizontal and the vertical components of velocity
real root, which corresponds to the wave propagation seen by an observer in the moving frame of reference can
following the current and one negative real root that easily be obtained from (3.4) by substituting o ¼ or þ kU,
corresponds to the progressive wave propagating in the x ¼ xr þ Ut, u ¼ ur þ U and v ¼ vr , where xr , ur and vr are
opposite direction. Apart from real roots, the equation has the horizontal water particle displacement, and the
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1508 J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515

horizontal and vertical components of water particle 11.0

h=10m
velocity with respect to the moving frame of reference. 10.8 h=20m
Fig. 2 shows the characteristics of the horizontal water h=30m

x-component of particle velocity

particle velocity for different values of current speed U. As 10.6 h=50m
expected, with an increase in the current speed, the 10.4
horizontal component of particle velocity and the wave-
10.2
length also increases. In Fig. 3, the vertical component of
particle velocity is plotted for various values of current 10.0
speed. It is easily observed that with an increase in current 9.8
speed, the amplitude of the vertical motion decreases.
Fig. 4 shows the change in the horizontal component of the 9.6
particle velocity for different values of water depth with 9.4
constant current speed. It is observed that the amplitude of
9.2
the horizontal particle velocity decreases with increase in
water depth. On the other hand, the vertical component of 9.0
-400 -200 0 200 400
x
20 Fig. 4. Horizontal component of water particle velocity for different h
with U ¼ 10 m=s, d ¼ 1 m, H ¼ 1 m and t ¼ 1 s.
15
x - component of particle velocity

10
0.30
h=10m
5 0.25 h=20m
h=30m
0.20
y-component of particle velocity

0 h=50m
0.15
-5 0.10
0.05
-10
0.00

-15 -0.05
-0.10
-20 -0.15
-400 -200 0 200 400
x -0.20
-0.25
Fig. 2. Horizontal component of water particle velocity for different U
-0.30
with d ¼ 1 m, H ¼ 1 m, h ¼ 50 m and t ¼ 1 s.
-400 -200 0 200 400
x
1.5 Fig. 5. Vertical component of water particle velocity for different h with
U ¼ 10 m=s, d ¼ 1 m, H ¼ 1 m and t ¼ 1 s.
1.0
y - component of particle velocity

particle velocity increases with increase in water depth as

0.5
shown in Fig. 5. However, in both the cases, with an
increase in water depth, a phase shift of the horizontal and
0.0 vertical velocity components are observed.
Further, the water particle trajectory can be easily
-0.5 obtained as
   2
z  Ut 2 x
þ ¼1 (3.6)
-1.0 A B
with A and B given by
-1.5    
-400 -200 0 200 400 H cosh kðh  y1 Þ H sinh kðh  y1 Þ
A¼ ; B¼ (3.7)
x 2 sinh kh 2 sinh kh
Fig. 3. Vertical component of water particle velocity for different U with where ðx1 ; y1 Þ is the initial position of the water particle and
d ¼ 1 m, H ¼ 1 m, h ¼ 50 m and t ¼ 1 s. after any instant of time t, ðx1 þ z; y1 þ xÞ is the displaced
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515 1509

position due to the wave induced pressure. Eq. (3.6) 3.2. Change in wavelength
indicates that the particle trajectory in flexural gravity
waves is elliptic in nature with a horizontal shift of the In order to calculate the change in wavelength due to a
center of the ellipse (centered at ðUt; 0Þ), and the major and change in current speed, assume that in the fixed frame of
minor axes of lengths 2A and 2B depend on the initial reference, the waves are propagating with absolute phase
position of the particle below the mean elastic plate speed c along with a steady uniform current velocity U in
covered surface. For the sake of clarity, in Figs. 6 and 7, the direction of wave propagation. With respect to the
the particle trajectories in the presence of current are moving frame of reference with velocity U, the progressive
plotted at various locations below the mean elastic plate wave will have relative phase velocity cr (see Fig. 8 with
covered surface for wave following and wave opposing a ¼ 90 ) with cr ¼ c  U. If T and T r are the time periods
current. Although, the particle trajectories in both the cases with respect to the stationary observer and moving
are elliptic in nature, it is observed that the particle observer, respectively, then c ¼ L=T and cr ¼ L=T r .
trajectory for wave opposing current follows a smaller path Hence, we obtain 1=T r ¼ ð1  TU=LÞ=T (Hedges, 1987),
compared to the case of wave following current which whose non-dimensional form is given by
implies that the wave motion reduces faster in case of  1=2  1=2   
opposing current compared to the case of following h h TU h
¼ 1 , (3.8)
current. L0r L0 h L
where L0r ¼ gT 2r =2p, L0 ¼ gT 2 =2p. Further, from the
0.8 dispersion relation (3.3), it can be derived that
n g o1=2
0.6 cr ¼ Dk3 þ tanh kh . (3.9)
k
0.4
Substituting cr ¼ L=T r in (3.9) and then using (3.8), we
0.2
obtain
   1=2  1=2   
0.0 h D 4 h TU h
ξ

k þ 1 tanh kh ¼ 1 .
L g L0 h L
-0.2
(3.10)
-0.4 The above relation determines the wavelength for various
values of the uniform current speed U. Eq. (3.10) shows
-0.6
that for U ¼ L=T ¼ c, h=L ¼ 0 and it leads to a situation
U=5m/s
-0.8 of no wave propagation. In Fig. 9, h=L versus h=L0 is
4.4 4.6 4.8 5.0 5.2 5.4 5.6 plotted for different values of TU=h. It is observed that for
ζ a given value of the water depth and absolute wave period,
the wavelength of flexural gravity waves increases with
Fig. 6. Water particle trajectory of flexural gravity waves for different
initial positions with d ¼ 1 m, H ¼ 1 m, h ¼ 50 m, Ut ¼ 5 m.
increasing following current and decreases with increasing
opposing current. In Fig. 10, h=L is plotted versus h=L0 for
different values of the flexural rigidity EI. It is clear from
0.8
Fig. 10 that the wavelength increases with increasing
0.6 flexural rigidity.
0.4

0.2

0.0
ξ

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6
U=-5m/s
-0.8
-5.6 -5.4 -5.2 -5.0 -4.8 -4.6 -4.4
ζ

Fig. 7. Water particle trajectory of flexural gravity waves for different

initial positions with d ¼ 1 m, H ¼ 1 m, h ¼ 50 m, Ut ¼ 5 m. Fig. 8. Phase velocity, group velocity and current vector.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1510 J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515

0.3 other hand, in case of uniform bed with linearly varying

current, the optimum value of the wave number is achieved
for c ¼ U.

0.2 3.3. Subsurface pressures

Under the assumption of the linearized theory of flexural

h/L

gravity waves, in the presence of current, the gauge

pressure p is given by
0.1  
cosh kðh  yÞ
p ¼ rðft  gyÞ ¼ r ðDk4 þ gÞ Z þ gy .
cosh kh
(3.13)
0.0 The difference Dp between the pressure below the crest and
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
the trough can be obtained as
h/L0
cosh kðh  yÞ
Fig. 9. Relationship between h=L and h=L0 for different values of TU=h.
Dp ¼ rðDk4 þ gÞ H (3.14)
cosh kh
and hence the wave height H is obtained as
Dp cosh kh
0.12 H¼ 4
. (3.15)
rðDk þ gÞ cosh kðh  yÞ
0.10 In practice, pressure sensing devices are often mounted at
the sea-bed at y ¼ h. In such a case, the wave height may be
0.08 derived from the above relation (3.15) as
DpB
H¼ cosh kh, (3.16)
h/L

0.06 rðDk4 þ gÞ
where DpB is the value of Dp at y ¼ h. In Fig. 11, the ratios
0.04
of wave height versus pressure difference H=ðDpB =rgÞ is
plotted as a function of h=L0 and TU=h. It is observed that
0.02
unlike the case of free surface gravity waves (Hedges,
1987), the ratio H=ðDpB =rgÞ does not increase with
0.00 increasing h=L0 . The results show that for fixed values of
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
T and h, the ratio H=ðDpB =rgÞ increases with higher values
h/L0
of the following current. The decreasing ratio of wave
Fig. 10. Relationship between h=L and h=L0 for various values of the height to pressure difference is due to the presence of the
flexural rigidity EI. flexural rigidity term in the denominator of (3.16). The

In case of deep water waves, i.e., for khb1, considering 1.2

(3.10) as a quadratic in L=L0 , it can be easily derived that
" sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi s  #2
L 1 D 4 D 4 4TU 0.9
¼ k þ1 þ k þ1 þ , (3.11)
L0 4 g g L0
H/(ΔpB/ρg)

which shows that the wavelength for a following current is 0.6

greater than that of an opposing current. For slowly
varying UðxÞ and hðxÞ, Eq. (3.3) remains valid and the
change in wave number is obtained by differentiation,
0.3
giving
1 dk ðDk4 þ gÞkð1  tanh2 khÞ dh=dx  2ðo  UkÞ dU=dx
¼ .
k dx ð5Dk4 þ gÞ tanh kh þ ðDk4 þ gÞðkh  kh tanh2 khÞ þ 2Uðo  UkÞ 0.0
(3.12) 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
h/L0
From relation (3.12), it is observed that for uniform current
with a linearly varying sloping sea bed, the optimum value Fig. 11. Relationship between the wave height and the variation in
in the wave number is achieved for tanh kh ¼ 1. On the pressure head at the sea bed for various values of TU=h.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515 1511

1.0 It may be noted that for n ¼ 1, cg ¼ c. Further, c ¼ U leads

to cg ¼ c. The phase and group velocities for an opposing
current are easily obtained from the above relations by
0.8
substituting U ¼ U. It is obvious from (3.17) that if the
phase velocity c becomes equal to the uniform current
speed U, then ðDk4 þ gÞ tanh kh ¼ 0, which is possible only
H/(ΔpB/ρg)

0.6
when kh ¼ 0. On the other hand, to find the critical value
of U beyond which no unidirectional wave propagation is
0.4 possible, we assume as for a uniform current, the absolute
wave frequency remains constant, i.e., o ¼ or þ kU ¼
0.2
o0 þ k0 U, o0 and k0 are the frequency and wave number
with respect to a reference frame. Hence, from the
definition of phase velocity, it is derived that
0.0  rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
c 1 U
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 ¼ 1 þ 1 þ 4w , (3.22)
h/L0 c0 2w c0
where
Fig. 12. Relationship between the wave height and the variation in  
pressure head at the sea-bed for different flexural rigidity EI. U 0 ðDk40 þ gÞ tanh k0 h0
w¼ 1þ .
c0 ðDk4 þ gÞ tanh kh
relation for wave height in (3.15) suggests that as the
rigidity of the structure increases, wave height of the Note that for U ¼ c0 =4w, c=c0 ¼ 1=2w, which yields
flexural gravity waves diminishes, which is also clear from U ¼ c=2. However, the phase velocity becomes a com-
Fig. 12. plex number for Uo  c=2 and hence no unidirectional
propagation of wave is possible in such case. On the other
3.4. Phase velocity and group velocity hand, for shallow water, the phase velocity becomes equal
to the group velocity for n ¼ 1, which is possible only when
In general, from the dispersion relation (3.3), the kh ¼ 0 and no waves result.

wave frequency can be written as o ¼ Uk 

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 3.5. Critical current in case of deep water
k ðDk3 þ g=kÞ tanh kh and hence the phase velocity with
For deep water, we consider two cases regarding the
respect to the stationary frame of reference is obtained as
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi critical current speed.
c ¼ U  ðDk3 þ g=kÞ tanh kh, (3.17) Case 1: c4U. The phase velocity with respect to a
stationary reference frame is given by
which, in the extreme cases are obtained as 8 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
8 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi >
> < U þ Dk3 þ g=k for following current;
< U  ðDk4 þ gÞh for shallow water ði:e: kh51Þ; qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
c¼ (3.23)
c¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi >
: U þ Dk3 þ g=k for opposing current:
>
: U  Dk3 þ g=k for deep water ði:e: khb1Þ:

(3.18) For a following current, c is always positive and attains a

minimum at k ¼ kcrit ¼ ðg=3DÞ1=4 and the minimum is
The group velocity cg of the flexural gravity wave system is given by cmin ¼ U þ 2ðDg3 =27Þ1=8 . It is clear from Fig. 13
obtained as that c never attains a zero minimum.
cg ¼ ð1  nÞU þ nc, (3.19) On the other hand, for an opposing current, c has a
with minimum at k ¼ kcrit ¼ ðg=3DÞ1=4 given by cmin ¼
  U þ 2ðDg3 =27Þ1=8 . The phase velocity has a zero mini-
1 5Dk4 þ g 2kh mum at k ¼ kcrit if U ¼ U crit ¼ 2ðDg3 =27Þ1=8 , which is clear
n¼ þ , (3.20)
2 Dk4 þ g sinh 2kh from Fig. 13. The wave frequency becomes zero at the
whose limiting values in the extreme cases of shallow and point where cmin ¼ 0, which leads to no wave situation. In
deep water are given by case of U4U crit , the minimum phase velocity becomes
8   negative. Fig. 13 shows that the phase velocity and the
>
> 1 5Dk4 þ g group velocity decrease with wave number and attain a
>
> þ 1 for shallow water ði:e: kh51Þ;
< 2 Dk4 þ g minimum, after which both phase and group velocities
n¼  
> 1 5Dk4 þ g
> increase with increasing wave number. At a fixed wave
>
> for deep water ði:e: khb1Þ: number, the phase and group velocities increase with a
: 2 Dk4 þ g
further increase in the wave following current speed but
(3.21) decrease with the opposing current speed. Unlike the case
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1512 J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515

160 40
cg c
140
120 0
Phase and Group velocity

Phase and Group velocity

100
80 -40

60
40 -80

20
0 -120

-20
cg c
-40 -160
1E-3 0.01 0.1 1 1E-3 0.01 0.1 1
Wave number Wave number

Fig. 13. Comparison of phase and group velocity versus the wave number Fig. 14. Comparison of phase and group velocity versus the wave number
for different current speed with c4U and d ¼ 1. for different current speed with coU and d ¼ 1.

of free surface gravity waves in the absence of a current, the energy divided by the intrinsic frequency (Jonsson and
phase velocity is not greater than the group velocity for all Wang, 1980) and is given by the equation
 
k40. Fig. 13 shows that for kokcrit , the phase velocity is G
greater than the group velocity and both have a minimum r: ðU þ cgr Þ ¼ 0, (3.25)
or
at k ¼ kcrit , which is equal. For k4kcrit , the group velocity
of flexural gravity waves is higher than the phase velocity. where G ¼ ðEIk4 þ rgÞH 2 =8 is the wave energy density, or
Hence, the plane flexural gravity waves disappear one after is the intrinsic angular frequency and cgr is the relative
another at the head of a group and appear at the end of the group velocity with respect to the moving frame of
group for kokcrit , and appear one after another at the head reference with H being the wave height. It may be noted
of a group wave and disappear at the end of the group for that in case of flexural gravity waves, the average energy
k4kcrit . Further, from Fig. 13, the phase and group density is a combination of kinetic energy, potential
velocities are greater when U40, than when Uo0, i.e. the energy and surface energy. The kinetic energy and potential
speed of wave propagation reduces in an opposing current energy are due to the propagation of the plane progressive
and increases in a following current. wave below the elastic plate. However, the surface energy is
Case 2: coU. In this case, the phase velocity is given by due to the existence of the floating elastic plate, often
8 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi referred as the strain energy, and is given by the expression
> Z  2
< U  Dk3 þ g=k for following current; EI xþL q2 Z 1
c¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (3.24) S¼ dx ¼ H 2 EIk4 . (3.26)
> 2L x qx2 16
: U  Dk3 þ g=k for opposing current:
In case of flexural gravity waves, Eq. (3.19) can be
For following current, c attains a maximum at k ¼ kcrit and rewritten as cgr ¼ ncr with n given by (3.20). Thus, when
is given by cmax ¼ U  2ðDg3 =27Þ1=8 . For U ¼ U crit , c has a the flexural gravity waves are traveling from a region with
zero maximum at k ¼ kcrit . The wave frequency becomes current speed U 1 into a region with current speed U 2 along
zero at the point where cmax ¼ 0 and hence propagation of with the assumptions that U 1 and U 2 are parallel and the
progressive wave is not possible. It can also be observed water depth remains constant in both the regions, the
that co0 for all k40 at U ¼ U crit . For an opposing change in wave height H 1 in region 1 to H 2 in region 2 can
current, c has a maximum given by cmax ¼ U be easily computed from (3.25) as
"  ! #1=2
2ðDg3 =27Þ1=8 . In this case, c never attains a zero maximum.
H2 U 1 þ n1 cr1 EIk41 þ rg or2
Fig. 14 shows that the phase and group velocities start ¼ 4
, (3.27)
H1 U 2 þ n2 cr2 EIk2 þ rg or1
increasing with increasing wave number to attain a
maximum and then again decrease continuously. where subscripts 1 and 2 denote regions 1 and 2, respectively.
The values of n1 and n2 are determined from (3.20). The
3.6. Changes in wave height relation (3.27) is valid with the assumption of no refraction
and reflection of flexural gravity waves taking place. It is clear
The change in wave height due to the presence of from the above relation that the wave height decreases with
uniform current can be computed from the principle of an increase in current speed and wave period. Fig. 15 shows
conservation of wave action which is defined as wave the change in surface elevation as the wave propagates from a
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515 1513

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4
Surface elevation

0.2

0.0

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1.0 Fig. 16. Schematic diagram for wave refraction.

-300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300
X AxisTitle

Fig. 15. Surface elevation versus x for different U 2 with d ¼ 1 m,

H ¼ 1 m, h ¼ 50 m, U 1 ¼ 5 m=s and t ¼ 1 s.
where the subscripts 1 and 2 denote regions 1 and 2,
respectively. Now, using Snell’s law of refraction
region with current speed U 1 to a region with various current
speed U 2 . In this case emphasis is given to understand the sin a2 =L2 ¼ sin a1 =L1 (3.30)
impact of current on wave heights. It is observed that as
the current speed increases, the wave height decreases and the which on substitution in (3.29) for i ¼ 2 yields
wavelength increases. The reason for the increase in
wavelength is obvious as with an increase in current speed,    1=2  1=2  
h D 4 h TU 2 sin a1
the horizontal velocity of the water particle increases which in k2 þ 1 tanh k2 h ¼ 1 .
L2 g L0 L1
turn dominates the wave motion in the horizontal direction.
Once the speed of the particle in the horizontal direction (3.31)
increases, the particle velocity in the vertical direction
decreases which in turn reduces the particle excitation in the The above relation will give the solution for wavelength L2
vertical direction and thus, the wave height reduces. provided all the other parameters are known. It is clear
from (3.31) that for U 2 ¼ L1 =T sin a1 , h=L2 ¼ 0 and thus,
3.7. Wave refraction by currents there will be no wave propagation. This may be due to
the change of phase of the plane flexural gravity waves
For a flexural gravity wave traveling in the direction of after interacting with the current. Fig. 17 shows the
uniform current with speed U making an angle a to the relationship between the incident and the refracted
wave crest (as in Fig. 8), Eq. (3.10) can be rewritten as wavelengths for different incident wave angles. For a fixed
   1=2 incident angle a1 , as the incident wavelength decreases,
h D 4 the refracted wavelength increases and attains a maximum
k þ 1 tanh kh
L g and then starts decreasing. In addition to that, as the
 1=2    incident angle increases, the maximum of the refracted
h TU sin a h
¼ 1 . ð3:28Þ wavelength is attained at higher incident wavelength. In
L0 h L
Fig. 18, h=L2 is plotted versus h=L0 for different current
In order to understand the propagation of flexural gravity speed in case of refraction. The figure shows that as the
waves traveling from a region in which the current speed is current speed of the incident field decreases, the refracted
U 1 with an angle a1 to the wave crest into a region with wavelength increases.
current speed U 2 that makes an angle a2 with the wave
crest (see Fig. 16), the change in wavelength can be 3.8. Effect of rigidity and water depth on wavelength
computed by assuming that the absolute wave period T
remains constant as the waves propagate from one to Tsubogo (1999) analyzed the dispersion relation of
another region. Hence, we obtain hydroelastic waves neglecting the effect of current. Here,
   1=2
h D 4 we shall discuss the effect of flexural rigidity and water
ki þ 1 tanh ki h depth on the wavelength of flexural gravity waves in
Li g
 1=2    the presence of uniform current. We assume that the
h TU i sin ai h flexural rigidity EI of the plate varies with the wavenumber
¼ 1 for i ¼ 1; 2, ð3:29Þ
L0 h Li k and differentiating the dispersion relation (3.3) with
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1514 J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515

0.30 For c4U, dkX03dhp0, and so the wavelength increases

as the water depth increases.
0.25 Further considering U to be a function of k and then
differentiating the dispersion relation (3.3) with respect to
0.20 k, it is derived that

ð5Dk4 þ gÞ tanh kh ðDk4 þ gÞkh sech2 kh

h/L2

0.15 þ þ 2ðo  UkÞ

U U
0.10
dk dU
 ¼ 2ðo  UkÞ ,
k U
0.05
which implies for c4U, dkX03dUp0, which indicates
that as the current speed increases, the wavelength
0.00
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
increases.
h/L1

Fig. 17. Relationship between h=L2 and h=L1 . 4. Conclusions

The characteristics of the flexural gravity waves due to a

floating elastic plate in the presence of a uniform current
0.20 have been studied. The flexural gravity wave dispersion
relation is used to obtain the phase velocity, group velocity
and the wavelength. Hence, the effects of following and
0.15 opposing currents have been analyzed in detail. Certain
critical values for the uniform current and wave number
have been identified for deep water waves, which yield
h/L2

0.10 limiting conditions for progressive waves to exist. The

phase and group velocities attain optimum values at the
critical current speed and critical wave number. The phase
0.05 velocity is greater than the group velocity when the wave
number is less than the critical wave number and group
velocity exceeds the phase velocity as the wave number
becomes greater than the critical wave number. In general,
0.00
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 the wavelength increases due to the presence of following
h/L0 current whereas it decreases in the presence of opposing
current. The change in wave height in the presence of
Fig. 18. Relationship between h=L2 and h=L0 in case of refraction. current is discussed through the application of principle of
conservation of wave action. In case of the flexural gravity
waves, the average energy density depends on the surface
energy which is because of the presence of the elastic plate
respect to k, we find
at the free surface. Applying Snell’s Law of Refraction, the
2rðo  UkÞU  4 rg  1 phenomenon of wave refraction by a discontinuity in the
 þ 5k þ þ
EI tanh kh EI cosh kh sinh kh current speed is briefly examined. The effect of change of
 rg 
dk dðEIÞ rigidity of the elastic plate on the propagation of
 k4 þ kh 5 ¼ . progressive waves in the presence of a current is studied
EI k EI
by analyzing the dispersion relation theoretically. The
From the above relation, it can be shown that for c4U, results obtained here can be useful in the fields of Marine
dkX03dðEIÞp0 and hence the wavelength increases with Technology and Arctic Engineering and other branches of
increasing flexural rigidity. Mathematical Physics and Engineering.
Next, assuming that the water depth h is function of k
and differentiating the dispersion relation (3.3) with respect
to k, it can be derived that Acknowledgement
kh dh
 J.B. acknowledges the support received from CSIR, New
cosh kh sinh kh h

Delhi in terms of Senior Research Fellowship. The authors
2Uðo  UkÞ ð5Dk4 þ gÞ kh dk
¼ 4
þ 4
þ . would like to acknowledge the reviewers for their sugges-
ðDk þ gÞ tanh kh ðDk þ gÞ cosh kh sinh kh k tions and comments to bring the paper to the present form.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Bhattacharjee, T. Sahoo / Ocean Engineering 34 (2007) 1505–1515 1515

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