An engineering approach to wave propagation

Wave propagation is a major topic in most coastal engineering projects. In this paper a new system of equations governing wave propagation is proposed along with a numerical model to solve them. The main intention throughout their derivation was to set the basis for a new engineering tool. Thanks to the ray-front coordinate system, the equations lend themselves to a convenient numerical treatment, which has resulted in practical advantages with respect to parabolic models-the most widespread in coastal engineering practice. Their major limitation is overcome while keeping the computational cost low, as the model proposed in this work allows unrestricted variation of the propagation direction. The problems associated with ray intersections or caustics in conventional ray models are not encountered, as both refraction and diffraction (rather than solely refraction) are considered. After validation through comparison with analytical solutions and physical models, the model utility has been proven by solving engineering cases to which a parabolic model would not be applicable.