Linking reduced breaking crest speeds to unsteady nonlinear water wave group behavior.
Observed crest speeds of maximally steep, breaking water waves are much slower than expected. Our fully nonlinear computations of unsteadily propagating deep water wave groups show that each wave crest approaching its maximum height slows down significantly and either breaks at this reduced speed, or accelerates forward unbroken. This previously noted crest slowdown behavior was validated as generic in our extensive laboratory and field observations. It is likely to occur in unsteady dispersive nonlinear wave groups in other natural systems.
School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
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School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia and Water Research Laboratory, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Manly Vale, New South Wales 2093, Australia.
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Barthelemy
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.
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Fedele
Water Research Laboratory, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Manly Vale, New South Wales 2093, Australia.
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Allis
Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR), Venice 30122, Italy.
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Benetazzo
UCD School of Mathematical Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
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Dias
Water Research Laboratory, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Manly Vale, New South Wales 2093, Australia.
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Peirson
D003198:Computer Simulation; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014872:Water Movements
D014867:Water