Evolution of a Random Directional Wave and Freak Wave Occurrence

The evolution of a random directional wave in deep water was studied in a laboratory wave tank (50 m long, 10 m wide, 5 m deep) utilizing a directional wave generator. A number of experiments were conducted, changing the various spectral parameters (wave steepness 0.05<0.11, with directional spreading up to 368 and frequency bandwidth 0.2