Wave Breaking
Oral
James Kirby
University of Delaware
Morteza Derakhti, PhD
Research Associate
Applied Physics Lab, University of washington
Barthelemy et al. (2018) show that a parameter B, defined at the wave crest as the ratio of energy flux to energy density times crest velocity, has a critical value close to 0.85, beyond which wave breaking will occur. Tests of our LES/VOF code in detecting breaking events based on this criterion show that there is a direct relation between dB/dt (normalized by the period Tb of the breaking wave) and the Duncan/Phillips breaking strength parameter b. It is thus possible to predict the total dissipation in isolated breaking events in terms of wave crest properties prior to breaking.