The Efficient Application of an Impulse Source Wavemaker to CFD Simulations

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, based on Reynolds-AveragedNavier–Stokes (RANS) models, are a useful tool for a wide range of coastal and offshore applications,providing a high fidelity representation of the underlying hydrodynamic processes. Generating inputwaves in the CFD simulation is performed by a Numerical Wavemaker (NWM), with a variety ofdifferent NWM methods existing for this task. While NWMs, based on impulse source methods, havebeen widely applied for wave generation in depth averaged, shallow water models, they have notseen the same level of adoption in the more general RANS-based CFD simulations, due to difficultiesin relating the required impulse source function to the resulting free surface elevation for non-shallowwater cases. This paper presents an implementation of an impulse source wavemaker, which is ableto self-calibrate the impulse source function to produce a desired wave series in deep or shallowwater at a specific point in time and space. Example applications are presented, for a NumericalWave Tank (NWT), based on the open-source CFD software OpenFOAM, for wave packets in deepand shallow water, highlighting the correct calibration of phase and amplitude. Furthermore, thesuitability for cases requiring very low reflection from NWT boundaries is demonstrated. Possibleissues in the use of the method are discussed, and guidance for accurate application is given.