Wave forces on side of barge

There is a book written by Dr Faltinsen that review wave theory and hydrodynamic loadings on structures. I don t know a university that doesn t have this book as it is very well known. For detailed hydrodynamics and large body behaviours you will be to consult a naval architect who is going to use FE packages such as Diodore or equivalent.

Could you clarify the question a bit pls?
Are you wanting to evaluate the wave force to design the barge hull scantlings (eg side wall plate thickness) or for motion analysis, mooring etc ? If the latter, Faltinsen's book, as recommended by jfduroch, is the right sort of reference, alternatively Chakrabarti (probably spelt wrong but an excellent well -known book). If the former, you can simply use the hydrodynamic pressure (eg from Airy wave theory).

Yes, for mooring analysis, not design of the barge. Thanks for the replies

There are a few good sources for this problem. One is a book called "DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF MARINE STRUCTURES", by Muga and Wilson. There is also HYDRODYNAMICS IN SHIP DESIGN (3 VOLS) by Saunders, and "BEHAVIOUR OF SHIPS IN WAVES", by Vossers. I've also seen, but not used a few other books on the actual subject of mooring, whose names escape me.

For large volume floating body (as in your case a barge), 3D diffraction wave theory preferably with forward speed effect has to be used to determine 1st and 2nd order wave forces and wave drift damping forces. Although time-domain formulation has been developed, it is usual in practice to use frequency-domain diffraction formulation instead for computational efficiency.