Scaled boundary FEM solution of short- crested wave diffraction by a vertical cylinder

6 The scaled boundary finite-element method (SBFEM) is a novel semi-analytical method 7 developed in the elasto-statics and elasto-dynamics areas that has the advantages of com8 bining the finite-element method with the boundary-element method. The SBFEM method 9 weakens the governing differential equation in the circumferential direction and solves the 10 weakened equation analytically in the radial direction. It has the inherent advantage of 11 solving the unbounded fluid dynamic problem. In this paper, the boundary-value problem 12 composed of short-crested waves diffracted by a vertical circular cylinder is solved by 13 SBFEM. Only the cylinder boundary is discretized with curved surface finite-elements on 14 the circumference of the cylinder, while the radial differential equation is solved completely 15 analytically. The computation of the diffraction force based on the present SBFEM solu16 tion demonstrates a high accuracy achieved with a small number of surface finite-elements. 17 The method can be extended to solve more complex wave-structure interaction problems 18 resulting in direct engineering applications. 19