Mean drift forces on arrays of bodies due to incident long waves

Abstract

The scattering of long water waves by an array of bodies is investigated using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Two particular geometries are considered, these are a group of vertical cylinders extending throughout the depth and a group of floating hemispheres. From these solutions, the low-frequency limit of the ratio of the mean drift force on a group of N bodies to that on a single body is calculated. For a wide range of circumstances this drift force ratio is N2 which is in agreement with previous numerical work. Further drift force enhancement is possible for certain configurations of vertical cylinders.