Nonlinear wave interaction with a vertical circular cylinder : Wave forces

Second-order wave forces on a large diameter vertical circular cylinder, computed according to a semi-analytic nonlinear diffraction theory, are compared to results of 22 laboratory experiments with regular waves. In general, predicted forces agree quite well with measured forces. In most tests, both measured and predicted maximum forces exceeded linear theory by 5 to 15%. In a few cases, however, the measured forces were less than those predicted by linear theory, in contrast to the second-order predictions. It is shown that these results are related to the phasing of various linear and nonlinear wave force components, and are consistent with those obtained by other investigators.