A hundred-year wave is a statistically projected water wave, the height of which, on average, is met or exceeded once in a hundred years for a given location. The likelihood of this wave height being attained at least once in the hundred-year period is 63%.[1] As a projection of the most extreme wave which can be expected to occur in a given body of water, the hundred-year wave is a factor commonly taken into consideration by designers of oil platforms and other offshore structures.[2][3][4] Periods of time other than a hundred years may also be taken into account, resulting in, for instance, a fifty-year wave.[5]

Various methods are employed to predict the possible steepness[6] and period[7] of these waves, in addition to their height.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Brooke, John; Engineering Committee on Oceanic Resources Working Group on Wave Energy Conversion (2003). Wave Energy Conversion. Elsevier. p. 170. ISBN 0-08-044212-9. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  2. ^ Goda, Y. (2000). Random Seas and Design of Maritime Structures. World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-02-3256-6. pp. 421–422.
  3. ^ Melchers, Robert E.; Hough, Richard (2007). Modeling Complex Engineering Structures. ASCE Publications. ISBN 978-0-7844-0850-6. p. 188.
  4. ^ Holthuijsen, Leo H. (2007). Waves in oceanic and coastal waters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86028-4. Ch. 4.
  5. ^ Le Tirant, P.; Jacques Meunier; Association de recherche en géotechnique marine (France) (1990). Anchoring of Floating Structures: Design Guides for Offshore Structures. Translated by Nissim Marshall. Editions TECHNIP. p. 50. ISBN 2-7108-0572-3. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  6. ^ Cruz, Joao (2008). Ocean Wave Energy: Current Status and Future Perspectives. Springer. p. 16. ISBN 978-3-540-74894-6. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  7. ^ Editions Technip; Association De Recherche Action Des (1980). Sea Climatology. Editions TECHNIP. p. 7. ISBN 2-7108-0396-8. Retrieved 2008-09-09.