The feasibility of using a pitching porous plate to actively control w
ater waves is investigated on the basis of the linearized wave theory.
The two-dimensional (2D) problem is formulated to deal with a fully s
ubmerged porous plate, pitching about its middle point and scattering
an incident monochromatic wave. The plate thickness is negligible in c
omparison with the water depth and the wavelength of the incident wave
. The pitching amplitude is assumed to be small, while the frequency o
f pitching is kept the same as that of the incident wave. The porous f
low through the plate is governed by Darcy's law. The method of matche
d eigenfunction expansions is used to analyze the reflected and transm
itted waves as well as the wave force and moment on the porous plate.
It is found that the heights of reflected and transmitted waves vary r
apidly for small values of porous-effect parameter, which is a direct
measure of the porosity effect to the incident wave. A small value of
porous-effect parameter is found to be optimal to dissipate incident w
ave energy. Because porosity counters the efforts of pitching, the wav
e transformation due to pitching reduces rapidly as the porous-effect
parameter increases. The performance of the plate has less sensitivity
on its dimension and submerged depth when the porous-effect parameter
is large.