Prediction of wave force on netting under strong nonlinear wave action

Under the strong nonlinear wave environment, accurate simulation of wave force for aquaculture netting is an effective guarantee for cage design and safety. In this paper, the horizontal wave forces of a nylon square-mesh netting panel were obtained through a series of strong nonlinear regular wave tests, and their nonlinearity was analyzed by amplitude spectrum. Moreover, the Morison equation based on fifth-order Stokes wave theory was used to reasonably predict the wave force on the netting. The results showed that both wave and wave force have strong nonlinearity, especially the latter. The frequency domain characteristics of the test wave and wave force are similar, while the higher frequency components of the test force are more apparent. The predicted wave forces are in good agreement with the test values in time and frequency domain, and zero or higher frequency components of predicted force are more prominent with the increase of wave steepness. When the range of the Keulegan-Carpenter number is 35-120, the average drag and inertia coefficient of the predicted force are 2.4 and 2.1, respectively. The results can provide a more accurate assessment of the nonlinear wave force on aquaculture facilities.