The ray method for the deflection of a floating flexible platform in short waves

In this paper, we explain how the 'ray method' can be used to describe the deflection, due to short waves, of a very large floating platform in finite or infinite water depth. The elastic properties of the platform are isotropic; but may be distributed inhomogeneously. In the first section, we give a derivation of the equation for the phase and amplitude functions. Then an integro-differential equation for the determination of the deflection is used to find the initial condition for amplitude along the characteristics. For the homogeneous two-dimensional platform in water of finite depth, an exact solution in the form of a superposition of modes can be obtained. This simplified problem serves as a 'canonical' problem for problems with the same structure locally. In the last section, we give some-result for a semi-infinite platform with varying elasticity coefficient, the mass distribution being taken constant. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.