[Formulae and special characters can only be approximated here. Please see the pdf version of the abstract for an accurate reproduction.] Wave run-up is the vertical uprush of water when an incident wave impinges on a free- surface penetrating body. For large volume offshore structures the wave run-up on the weather side of the supporting columns is particularly important for air-gap design and ultimately the avoidance of pressure impulse loads on the underside of the deck structure. This investigation focuses on the limitations of conventional wave diffraction theory, where the free-surface boundary condition is treated by a Stokes expansion, in predicting the harmonic components of the wave run-up, and the presentation of a simplified procedure for the prediction of wave run-up. The wave run-up is studied on fixed vertical cylinders in plane progressive waves. These progressive waves are of a form suitable for description by Stokes' wave theory whereby the typical energy content of a wave train consists of one fundamental harmonic and corresponding phase locked Fourier components. The choice of monochromatic waves is indicative of ocean environments for large volume structures in the diffraction regime where the assumption of potential flow theory is applicable, or more formally A/a < Ο(1) (A and a being the wave amplitude and cylinder radius respectively). One of the unique aspects of this work is the investigation of column geometry effects - in terms of square cylinders with rounded edges - on the wave run-up. The rounded edges of each cylinder are described by the dimensionless parameter rc/a which denotes the ratio of edge corner radius to half-width of a typical column with longitudinal axis perpendicular to the quiescent free-surface. An experimental campaign was undertaken where the wave run-up on a fixed column in plane progressive waves was measured with wire probes located close to the cylinder. Based on an appropriate dimensional analysis, the wave environment was represented by a parametric variation of the scattering parameter ka and wave steepness kA (where k denotes the wave number). The effect of column geometry was investigated by varying the edge corner radius ratio within the domain 0 <=rc/a <= 1, where the upper and lower bounds correspond to a circular and square shaped cylinder respectively. The water depth is assumed infinite so that the wave run-up caused purely by wave-structure interaction is examined without the additional influence of a non-decaying horizontal fluid velocity and finite depth effects on wave dispersion. The zero-, first-, second- and third-harmonics of the wave run-up are examined to determine the importance of each with regard to local wave diffraction and incident wave non-linearities. The modulus and phase of these harmonics are compared to corresponding theoretical predictions from conventional diffraction theory to second-order in wave steepness. As a result, a basis is formed for the applicability of a Stokes expansion to the free-surface boundary condition of the diffraction problem, and its limitations in terms of local wave scattering and incident wave non-linearities. An analytical approach is pursued and solved in the long wavelength regime for the interaction of a plane progressive wave with a circular cylinder in an ideal fluid. The classical Stokesian assumption of infinitesimal wave amplitude is invoked to treat the free-surface boundary condition along with an unconventional requirement that the cylinder width is assumed much smaller than the incident wavelength. This additional assumption is justified because critical wavelengths for wave run-up on a fixed cylinder are typically much larger in magnitude than the cylinder's width. In the solution, two coupled perturbation schemes, incorporating a classical Stokes expansion and cylinder slenderness expansion, are invoked and the boundary value problem solved to third-order. The formulation of the diffraction problem in this manner allows for third-harmonic diffraction effects and higher-order effects operating at the first-harmonic to be found. In general, the complete wave run-up is not well accounted for by a second-order Stokes expansion of the free-surface boundary condition and wave elevation. This is however, dependent upon the coupling of ka and kA. In particular, whilst the modulus and phase of the second-harmonic are moderately predicted, the mean set-up is not well predicted by a second-order Stokes expansion scheme. This is thought to be caused by higher than second-order non-linear effects since experimental evidence has revealed higher-order diffraction effects operating at the first-harmonic in waves of moderate to large steepness when k < < 1. These higher-order effects, operating at the first-harmonic, can be partially accounted for by the proposed long wavelength formulation. For small ka and large kA, subsequent comparisons with measured results do indeed provide a better agreement than the classical linear diffraction solution of Havelock (1940). To account for the complete wave run-up, a unique approach has been adopted where a correction is applied to a first-harmonic analytical solution. The remaining non-linear portion is accounted for by two methods. The first method is based on regression analysis in terms of ka and kA and provides an additive correction to the first-harmonic solution. The second method involves an amplification correction of the first-harmonic. This utilises Bernoulli's equation applied at the mean free-surface position where the constant of proportionality is empirically determined and is inversely proportional to ka. The experimental and numerical results suggest that the wave run-up increases as rc/a--› 0, however this is most significant for short waves and long waves of large steepness. Of the harmonic components, experimental evidence suggests that the effect of a variation in rc/a on the wave run-up is particularly significant for the first-harmonic only. Furthermore, the corner radius effect on the first-harmonic wave run-up is well predicted by numerical calculations using the boundary element method. Given this, the proposed simplified wave run-up model includes an additional geometry correction which accounts for rc/a to first-order in local wave diffraction. From a practical view point, it is the simplified model that is most useful for platform designers to predict the wave run-up on a surface piercing column. It is computationally inexpensive and the comparison of this model with measured results has proved more promising than previously proposed schemes.