scott wrote:

> If you're designing some offshore structure then you need to be able to 
> estimate the loadings from the sea.  How do you do this?  Well you watch 
> the waves for a long time and come up with a statistical model.
> 
> We did something like this in our "non-linear dynamics" course at 
> university.  Basically you take the statistical model of sea motion, and 
> use it to design the structure based on some criteria (eg 1% chance of 
> breaking within 10 years).

And I saw a program about "freak waves". Apparently these occur with a 
frequency vastly higher than predicted by the standard model. (Standard 
model assumes a normal distribution, which means a wave of this size 
should happen once every few millennia.) Apparently some solution to the 
Schrowonakiarlumlum wave equation predicts this, but nobody noticed 
before. And now the redesign implications are quite staggering. Or 
something...

-- 
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