Wave forces on a submerged horizontal plate - Part I: Theory and modelling

This paper is concerned with the propagation of nonlinear gravity waves over a thin horizontal plate submerged in water of shallow depth. An unsteady solution of the problem is obtained by use of the theory of directed fluid-sheets for the two-dimensional motion of an incompressible and inviscid fluid. Particular attention is paid to the calculation of the nonlinear wave-induced vertical and horizontal forces and overturning moment by solving the Level I Green-Naghdi equations. The theoretical formulation of the problem is given in this paper (Part I), while the results due to solitary and cnoidal waves, and comparisons with the available experimental data are given in a companion paper under the same title (Part II).