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The impact of a deep-water plunging breaker on a wall with its bottom edge close to the mean water surface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2018

An Wang Open the ORCID record for An Wang [Opens in a new window] ,
Christine M. Ikeda-Gilbert ,
James H. Duncan Open the ORCID record for James H. Duncan [Opens in a new window] ,
Daniel P. Lathrop ,
Mark J. Cooker  and
Anne M. Fullerton
An Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Christine M. Ikeda-Gilbert
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
James H. Duncan*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Daniel P. Lathrop
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Mark J. Cooker
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
Anne M. Fullerton
Affiliation:
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: duncan@umd.edu
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Abstract

The impact of a deep-water plunging breaker on a finite height two-dimensional structure with a vertical front face is studied experimentally. The structure is located at a fixed horizontal position relative to a wave maker and the structure’s bottom surface is located at a range of vertical positions close to the undisturbed water surface. Measurements of the water surface profile history and the pressure distribution on the front surface of the structure are performed. As the vertical position, $z_{b}$ (the $z$ axis is positive up and $z=0$ is the mean water level), of the structure’s bottom surface is varied from one experimental run to another, the water surface evolution during impact can be categorized into three classes of behaviour. In class I, with $z_{b}$ in a range of values near $-0.1\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{0}$, where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{0}$ is the nominal wavelength of the breaker, the behaviour of the water surface is similar to the flip-through phenomena first described in studies with shallow water and a structure mounted on the sea bed. In the present work, it is found that the water surface between the front face of the structure and the wave crest is well fitted by arcs of circles with a decreasing radius and downward moving centre as the impact proceeds. A spatially and temporally localized high-pressure region was found on the impact surface of the structure and existing theory is used to explore the physics of this phenomenon. In class II, with $z_{b}$ in a range of values near the mean water level, the bottom of the structure exits and re-enters the water phase at least once during the impact process. These air–water transitions generate large-amplitude ripple packets that propagate to the wave crest and modify its behaviour significantly. At $z_{b}=0$, all sensors submerged during the impact record a nearly in-phase high-frequency pressure oscillation indicating possible air entrainment. In class III, with $z_{b}$ in a range of values near $0.03\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{0}$, the bottom of the structure remains in air before the main crest hits the bottom corner of the structure. The subsequent free surface behaviour is strongly influenced by the instantaneous momentum of the local flow just before impact and the highest wall pressures of all experimental conditions are found.

JFM classification

Waves/Free-surface Flows: Surface gravity waves Waves/Free-surface Flows: Wave breaking

Information

Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 843 , 25 May 2018 , pp. 680 - 721
Copyright
© 2018 Cambridge University Press 

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Footnotes

‡

Present address: Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.

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Supplementary material: File

Wang et al. supplementay material

Supplementary data

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Wang et al. supplementary movie 1

LIF high-speed movie of the breaker in open water (corresponding to figure 4).

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Video 14.8 MB

Wang et al. supplementary movie 2

LIF high-speed movie of the water surface profile for $z_b = -0.113\lambda_0$ (corresponding to figure 5).

Download Wang et al. supplementary movie 2(Video)
Video 18.4 MB

Wang et al. supplementary movie 3

LIF high-speed movie of the water surface profile for $z_b = 0$ (corresponding to figure 9).

Download Wang et al. supplementary movie 3(Video)
Video 3.2 MB

Wang et al. supplementary movie 4

LIF high-speed movie of the water surface profile for $z_b = 0.022\lambda_0$ (corresponding to figure 13).

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Video 2.6 MB

Wang et al. supplementary movie 5

LIF high-speed movie of the water surface profile for $z_b = 0.043\lambda_0$ (corresponding to figure 14).

Download Wang et al. supplementary movie 5(Video)
Video 2.7 MB

Wang et al. supplementary movie 6

LIF high-speed movie with a close-up view of the water surface profile for $z_b = -0.113\lambda_0$ (corresponding to figure 22).

Download Wang et al. supplementary movie 6(Video)
Video 1.1 MB