Summary

This technical note presents the theoretical formulation and implementation of Stokes (regular) waves in AquaSim. The document focuses on the fifth-order Stokes wave theory, which provides a representation of nonlinear, periodic surface gravity waves for waves of moderate to high steepness.

In the theoretical background, the formulation builds on the governing Laplace equation for potential flow, together with nonlinear boundary conditions at the free surface. The fifth-order Stokes theory (based on Fenton, 1985) introduces corrections to the dispersion relation and to kinematic quantities such as pressure, horizontal and vertical velocities, and accelerations. These are expressed for both finite and infinite water depths, where the mathematical forms transition from hyperbolic to exponential functions, respectively.

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