Efficient Solution of the 3D Laplace Problem for Nonlinear Wave-Structure Interaction

This contribution presents our recent progress on developing an efficient solution for fully nonlinear wave-structure interaction. The approach is to solve directly the three-dimensional (3D) potential flow problem. The time evolution of the wave field is captured by integrating the free-surface boundary conditions using a fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme. A coordinate-transformation is employed to obtain a time-constant spatial computational domain which is discretized using arbitrary-order finite difference schemes on a grid with one stretching in each coordinate direction. The resultant linear system of equations is solved by the GMRES iterative method, preconditioned using a multigrid solution to the linearized, lowest-order version of the matrix. The computational effort and required memory use are shown to scale linearly with increasing problem size (total number of grid points). Preliminary examples of nonlinear wave interaction with variable bottom bathymetry and simple bottom mounted structures are given.Copyright © 2008 by ASME