Wave flume

About: Wave flume is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1627 publications have been published within this topic receiving 23335 citations.

Modeling morphological evolution in the vicinity of coastal structures

Abstract: A numerical model of beach topography evolution was developed. The model includes five sub-models: random wave transformation model, surface roller model, wave-induced current model, sediment transport model, and morphological change model. The model was validated by two unique high-quality data sets obtained from experiments on the morphological impact of a detached breakwater and a T-head groin in the basin of the Large-scale Sediment Transport Facility (LSTF) at the US Army Corps of Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss. The simulations demonstrated that the model well reproduced the wave conditions, wave-induced currents, and morphological evolution in the vicinity of the structures.

Spatial evolution of an initially narrow-banded wave train

Abstract: Nonlinear evolution of narrow-banded unidirectional gravity wave trains along wave flume is studied both experimentally and numerically. The spatial version of the Zakharov equation serves as the theoretical model. The frequency domains of spatially linearly unstable disturbances to a monochromatic wave, as well as the frequencies of the most linearly unstable modes are determined theoretically as functions of the carrier wave steepness; these results serve as a reference for the following study. The effect of the spectral width on the evolution along the tank is considered for bi-modal initial spectra, as well as for spectra consisting of a carrier wave and two sidebands with small but finite amplitude. Good agreement between the experimental results and numerical simulations is obtained. The variation of the frequency spectra along the tank resulting from nonlinearity, as well as of the maximum envelope and crest height is investigated as a function of the initial conditions. Fermi–Pasta–Ulam recurrence is obtained for frequency spacing between the initial spectral harmonics approximately corresponding to most unstable disturbance. For narrower spectra, the evolution pattern becomes irregular, numerous additional harmonics are generated by nonlinearity; in this process very steep waves can be generated. The relevance of those findings to appearance of rogue waves is discussed.

Long Wave Effects in Laboratory Studies of Cross-Shore Transport

Abstract: A movable bed physical model study was conducted to investigate the influence of trapped low frequency energy on wave transformation and beach profile evolution. Using identical drive signals to create random waves, one test was run in short bursts (5 min each), whereas a second was run in long bursts (30 min each), both for a total duration of 180 min. Comparison shows that seiching induced during the long-burst test had a marked effect on the equilibrium profile and the shape of wave spectra, but little influence on wave statistics and the rate of profile evolution.