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This paper presents a new methodology to reproduce the interaction between waves and floating objects over mildly variable bathymetry. The elliptic mild slope equation solves the fluid velocity potential over a domain, which does not include the near field around each object. The waves scattered by the floating bodies are considered by means of boundary conditions at the edges of the near field areas. The coefficients of these boundary conditions are obtained nesting the solution of a near field three dimensional solver with the elliptic model solution. Comparison with a 3D numerical model, which solves the potential flow field over the whole domain, is used to validate the proposed approach. An example of application to reproduce the wave field around an array of wave energy converters is presented.

A numerical model based on the mild-slope equation is applied to reproduce the propagation of small-amplitude transient waves. The model makes use of the Fourier Transform to convert the time-dependent hyperbolic equation into a set of elliptic equations in the frequency domain. The results of two available experimental studies on tsunamis generated by landslides are used to validate the model, which appears to be able of carefully reproducing the effects of the frequency dispersion. An example application of tsunamis propagating around the Stromboli island is also presented to show the applicability of the present approach to real life scenarios. It is finally discussed how this model could be applied as support to a tsunami early warning system. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.