Predicting the Global Shape of a Breaking Solitary Wave Impacting a Wall

This paper investigates the Global Wave Shape of a solitary wave breaking on a sloping bottom, and impacting a wall. The approach is numerical, based on fully non-linear potential flow theory, using a boundary integral element method (BIEM).
A parametric study is first presented using key input wave parameters: the non-linear parameter (α) and the water depth (h₀). Geometrical quantities of the global breaking wave shape (GBWS) are defined, then calculated for each simulation, providing an extensive parametric analysis. Qualitatively, breaking is promoted when h₀ decreases and/or α increases, resulting in the evolution of the geometrical quantities describing the GBWS. By comparing these results with high fidelity, two-phase flow CFD numerical simulations (CADYF-FT), we are confident that the BIEM results are robust, even though the gas phase is not taken into account in its mathematical description. Eventually, advantage is taken from this parametric study to improve quantitative comparisons between the present numerical results and the experimental ones obtained in the Atmosphere facility (ATM) in MARIN.

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