Uncertainty Analysis of Numerical Wave Modelling With Relevance to the Dynamics of Oil Booms

This paper presents the first attempt to estimate the numerical uncertainty in wave propagation studies. This work was motivated by a current project at LabOceano (COPPE/UFRJ) related to studying the dynamic behaviour of oil containment booms on waves and currents. To study the dynamics of an oil boom, the influence of the viscous effect needs to be taken into consideration due to the geometry of the boom. Numerically, this can be achieved using software that solves the Navier-Stokes equation. However, prior to evaluating the wave-structure interaction using a viscous model, it is important to evaluate how the numerical model represents the wave flow only, which is the focus of the present paper. Thus, a model based on the continuity and momentum equations available in the software package StarCCM+ is used to simulate the wave propagation. The computational domain is discretized using a trimmer mesh. The results obtained for a regular wave with a wave steepness (H/L) equal to 0.025 are presented. The numerical uncertainties in the mean wave height and in the mean wave period are estimated along the domain using the methodology proposed by [8]. The wave elevation is also compared with the second-order Stokes wave solution.