Application of angular spectrum model to simulation of irregular wave propagation

For the past several years, great advances have been made in the modeling of water-wave propagation problems using the concept of angular spectrum. In a 1989 paper, Vincent and Briggs reported hydraulic model experiments for the transformation of monochromatic and directionally spread irregular waves passing over an elliptic shoal resting on a flat bottom, showing that the degree of wave focusing behind the shoal of directional irregular waves is quite different from that of monochromatic waves. In the present paper, the angular spectrum model developed for the transformation of directional irregular waves by Suh in 1989 is used to numerically simulate the experimental results of Vincent and Briggs for irregular waves. The comparison between experimental and computational results shows that the angular spectrum model is capable of simulating reasonably well the transformation of directional irregular waves on irregular bathymetry.