A Comparison of Wave Contour and Confidence Domain Approaches to Defining the Wave Environment for Seakeeping Investigations

摘要

Wave contour and confidence domain approaches to bounding the wave environment, though similar in concept, are shown to produce widely differing results for similar conditions. A comparative analysis is performed to identify the caused for these differences. It is found that the calibration equations used to convert visually observed wave characteristics to wave statistics in the confidence domain approach are of questionable validity, and that the methodology used to define wave contours is deficient. A revised approach to bounding the wave environment is delineated and implemented for two cases. (Author)