The diffraction of waves by three bottom fixed vertical circular cylinders is investigated by using the boundary element method. This method has been successfully applied to the isolated vertical circular cylinder and now is used to study the interaction between waves and multiple vertical cylinders. In this paper, a numerical analysis by the boundary element method is developed by the linear potential theory. The numerical analysis by the boundary element method is based on Green's second theorem and introduced to an integral equation for the fluid velocity potential around the vertical circular cylinders. To verify this method, the results obtained in present study are compared with the results computed by the multiple scattering method. The results of the comparisons show strong agreement. Also in this paper, several numerical examples are given to illustrate the effects of various parameters on the wave exciting force such are the separation distance, the wave number and the incident wave angle. This numerical computation method might be used broadly for the design of various offshore structures to be constructed in the future.

• Nam-Hyeong Kim
• Tan Ngoc Than Cao