Solitary waves perturbed by a broad sill. Part 1. Propagation across the sill. (10th December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ko, Harrison T.-S.; Yeh, Harry
• Is Part Of: Journal of fluid mechanics. Volume 880(2019)
• Page Start: 916
• Page End: 934
• Publication Date: 2019-12-10
• Subjects: wave breaking, -- solitary waves, -- surface gravity waves; Fluid mechanics -- Periodicals; 532.005
• DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2019.712
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1120

Abstract

Abstract : Stability of a solitary wave disturbed by a submerged flat sill is investigated experimentally. For sills narrow compared with the solitary wave, the transmitted waves are found to be unaffected in waveform and amplitude. A wider sill disturbs the solitary wave resulting in the formation of a dispersive wavetrain following the transmitted wave. In some cases, the wave amplitude recovers, despite being perturbed, to the state of an unobstructed solitary-wave state at a certain distance beyond the sill. Wider sills cause wave breaking that occurs over the sill or, in some cases, after the wave passes through the sill. Details of waveform transformation leading toward the breaking and subsequent energy dissipation are discussed.