Example 7-1: Wave Length for a given Period and Water Depth

Correct wave length is computed iteratively using deep water and shallow water starting values to check what will give correct result with
fewer iterations for a given period
Note that how quickly the convergence is achived depends on starting value
Wave Description
Period
T:
20 sec
Water Depth
50 m
Intrinsic eqn for wave length:
Accurate wave legth using Airy wave theory
2
2
=
tanh
2

Approx. Deep water wave length:

Iteration No

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

2
2

Initial value based on deep Water wave length =

624.52 m
See Note 1
See Note 2
Assumed L Computed L diff
Assumed L Computed L diff
624.52
290.09
1
624.52
290.09
290.09
496.06
-334
2 457.30863
372.24
-167
496.06
349.94
206
3 414.7733
399.42
-43
349.94
446.66
-146
4 407.09605
404.64
-8
446.66
378.77
97
5 405.86929
405.49
-1
378.77
424.78
-68
6 405.67786
405.62
0
424.78
392.76
46
7 405.64811
405.64
0
392.76
414.67
-32
8 405.64348
405.64
0
414.67
399.49
22
9 405.64277
405.64
0
399.49
409.91
-15
10 405.64265
405.64
0
409.91
402.71
10
11 405.64264
405.64
0
402.71
407.67
-7
12 405.64263
405.64
0
407.67
404.25
5
13 405.64263
405.64
0
404.25
406.60
-3
14 405.64263
405.64
0
406.60
404.98
2
15 405.64263
405.64
0
404.98
406.10
-2
16 405.64263
405.64
0
406.10
405.33
1
17 405.64263
405.64
0
405.33
405.86
-1
18 405.64263
405.64
0
405.86
405.49
1
19 405.64263
405.64
0
405.49
405.75
0
20 405.64263
405.64
0

Approx. Shallow water wave length:

Iteration No

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Initial value based on deep Water wave length =

442.94 m
See Note 1
See Note 2
Assumed L Computed Ldiff
Assumed L Computed Ldiff
442.94
381.09
1
442.94
381.09
381.09
423.08
-62
2
381.09
423.08
423.08
393.88
42
3
423.08
393.88
393.88
413.87
-29
4
393.88
413.87
413.87
400.03
20
5
413.87
400.03
400.03
409.54
-14
6
400.03
409.54
409.54
402.97
10
7
409.54
402.97
402.97
407.49
-7
8
402.97
407.49
407.49
404.37
5
9
407.49
404.37
404.37
406.52
-3
10
404.37
406.52
406.52
405.04
2
11
406.52
405.04
405.04
406.06
-1
12
405.04
406.06
406.06
405.36
1
13
406.06
405.36
405.36
405.84
-1
14
405.36
405.84
405.84
405.51
0
15
405.84
405.51
405.51
405.74
0
16
405.51
405.74
405.74
405.58
0
17
405.74
405.58
405.58
405.69
0
18
405.58
405.69
405.69
405.61
0
19
405.69
405.61
405.61
405.66
0
20
405.61
405.66

-62
42
-29
20
-14
10
-7
5
-3
2
-1
1
-1
0
0
0
0
0
0

Note 1: We start with a value and compute L from the intrinsic equation; the computers value is then used as the next assumed value and so until the difference between the assumed and the computed value is say les than 0.5m
Note 2: To achieve quicker convergence the starting value is the same as earlier but nest asumed value is average of previous assumed and computed values. Thus second assumed value based on deep water approximation is 0.5*(624.52+290.9)=457.31
Note 3: Converged values shown in bold letters. The above examples show that the use of average values lead to fast convergence in both cases; hence it does not matter which starting wave length is used.