Experimental Study of Three‐Dimensional Wave Breaking
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 120, Issue 1
Abstract
The present study investigates two cases of three‐dimensional wave breaking. In the first case, the wave field contains a single frequency with a uniform angular spreading within a given range . The wave field of the second case consists of a number of frequencies with a uniform angular spreading applied to each frequency. In both cases, the waves are designed such that the wave energy is focused at a given point. Surface elevation in the focusing region is recorded and parameters such as the breaking‐wave height and the crest‐front steepness are calculated. It is shown that the wave height, crest elevation, crest‐front steepness, and vertical asymmetry factor, at breaking, are strong functions of the angular spreading, while the crest‐rear steepness and horizontal asymmetry factor are little affected by the angular spreading. In general, the greater the spreading angle, the bigger are the breakers. It is hoped that the results obtained here will provide a useful preliminary assessment of the importance of three‐dimensionality in wave breaking.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Chan, E. S., and Melville, W. K. (1987). “Plunging wave forces on surface piercing structures.” Proc., 6th Symp. on Offshore Mech. and Arctic Engrg., Houston, 61–72.
2.
Cokelet, E. D. (1979). “Breaking waves—the plunging jet and interior flow field.” Mechanics of wave‐induced forces on cylinders, T. L. Shaw Pitman Pub. Ltd., London, U.K., 287–301.
3.
Dold, J. W., and Peregrine, D. H. (1985). “An efficient boundary integral method for steep unsteady water waves.” Numerical methods for fluid mechanics II, Clarendon Press, Oxford, U.K.
4.
Greated, C. A., Martin, J., and She, K. (1989). “Loading in three‐dimensional seas,” Project A06 final report, Fluid Dynamics Unit, Edinburgh Univ., Edinburgh, U.K.
5.
Griffiths, M. W. P. (1989). “Breaking waves,” PhD thesis, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, U.K.
6.
Kjeldsen, S. P., Lystad, M., and Myrhaug, D. (1981). “Forecast of breaking waves on the Norwegian continental shelf,” Project report, Norwegian Meteorological Institute and Norwegian Hydrodynamic Laboratories, Division Ship and Ocean Laboratory, Trondheim, Norway.
7.
Longuet‐Higgins, M. S. (1978). “The instabilities of gravity waves of finite amplitude in deep water.” Proc., Royal Society London A, London, U.K., 360, 471–505.
8.
Mclean, J. W. (1982). “Instabilities of finite‐amplitude water waves.” J. Fluid Mech., 114, 315–330.
9.
Ochi, M. K. (1990). “Stochastic description of offshore environment.” Water wave kinematics, Kluwer Academic Publishers, London, U.K., 31–56.
10.
Ochi, M. K., and Tsai, C. H. (1983). “Prediction of breaking waves in deep water.” J. Phy. Oceanogr., 13(11), 2008–2019.
11.
Ramberg, S. E., and Griffin, M. (1987). “Laboratory study of steep and breaking deep water waves.” J. Wtrway., Port, Coast., and Oc. Engrg., ASCE, 113(5), 493–506.
12.
She, K., Greated, C. A., and Easson, W. J. (1991). “Effects of three‐dimensionality on wave kinematics and loading.” Proc. 1st Int. Offshore and Polar Engrg. Conf., International Society for Offshore and Polar Engineering, Edinburgh, U.K., 3, 1–5.
13.
Skyner, D. J., Gray, C., and Greated, C. A. (1990). “A comparison of time stepping numerical predictions with whole field flow measurement in breaking waves.” Water wave kinematics, Kluwer Academic Publishers, London, U.K., 491–508.
14.
Stansby, P. K., and Isaacson, M. (1987). “Recent developments in offshore hydrodynamics: workshop report.” Appl. Oc. Res., 9(3), 118–127.
15.
Su, M. Y. (1982). “Three dimensional deep water waves.” J. Fluid Mech., 124, 73–108.
16.
Su, M. Y., Bergin, M., Marler, P. M., and Myrick, R. (1982). “Experiments on nonlinear instabilities of steep gravity wave trains.” J. Fluid Mech., 124, 45–72.
17.
Xu, D., Hwang, P. A., and Wu, J. (1986). “Breaking of wind‐generated waves.” J. Phy. Oceanogr., 16, 2172–2178.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 29, 1992
Published online: Jan 1, 1994
Published in print: Jan 1994
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.