Research Interests:

Developing and implementing sophisticated analytic techniques for solving boundary-value problems arising from problems in linearised water wave theory, acoustics, electromagnetics and elasticity.

In particular,

• Wave diffraction by thin and thick rigid plates in compressible and incompressible fluids.
• Wave scattering by varying sea-bed topography and offshore structures.
• Wave power: focussing and capturing energy from the waves.
• Trapped modes, edge waves and Rayleigh-Bloch waves in water waves, elasticity and acoustics.
• Ice sheets: Flexural-gravity wave scattering by features in ice.
• Scattering of waves by large arrays of obstacles: infinite, finite and semi-infinite periodic and random arrays.

Links to people with similar research interests:

• Phil McIver, Maureen McIver and Chris Linton at Loughborough University.
• David Porter, Simon Chandler-Wilde, Nick Biggs, Steve Langdon and Pete Chamberlain at Reading University.
• Paul Martin at the Colorado School of Mines.
• Mike Simon, Will Parnell and David Abrahams at Manchester University.
• Oleg Motygin at the Math-Mech Dept of St Petersburg State University.
• Yibin Fu at Keele.
• Sasha Movchan at Liverpool.
• Mike Meylan, Colin Fox and Vernon Squire in New Zealand.
• Nick Newman and CC Mei at MIT.
• Richard Craster at Imperial.
• Jane Lawrie, Julius Kaplunov, Tony Rawlins and Martin Greenhow at Brunel.

Illustration of selected research topics:

Trapping of waves by a submerged elliptical torus

This particular obstacle has the property that low amplitude waves on the surface of the water may oscillate at a certain frequency in the presence of the obstacle for all time, with none of the waves radiating their energy away from the obstacle. Such a wave oscillation is called a trapped wave.

Water wave/flexural wave interaction due to floating ice and cracks in ice

The first picture shows a long straight crack in ice due caused by the rising and falling tide. The second shows a more irregular fracture in an ice sheet. These pictures were taken from the Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre. Waves travelling in ice sheets can assist breakup of ice, an important feature in controlling ocean circulation processes and ultimately climate.

Very large floating structures

The first picture is a scale model (1km long) of a large floating airport in Tokyo Bay. The second is an artists impression of a full scale offshore runway and the third picture shows floating oil tanks, again in Japan. The structures are thin and flexible and support flexural waves, excited by the ocean waves. Efforts are made to model various features of the wave interaction.

Near trapping of waves

The picture shows the elevation of water in the region between four vertical circular cylinders at resonance. The incoming wave height is amplified about three times due to the interaction between the four cylinders. Such a situation could be of importance for the design of offshore structures such as oil rigs.