The main goal of this paper is to provide insights into swash flow dynamics, generated by a non-breaking solitary wave on a steep slope. Both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the details of runup and rundown processes. Special attention is given to the evolution of the bottom boundary layer over the slope in terms of flow separation, vortex formation and the development of a hydraulic jump during the rundown phase. Laboratory experiments were performed to measure the flow velocity fields by means of high-speed particle image velocimetry (HSPIV). Detailed pathline patterns of the swash flows and free-surface profiles were also visualized. Highly resolved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out. Numerical results are compared with laboratory measurements with a focus on the velocities inside the boundary layer. The overall agreement is excellent during the initial stage of the runup process. However, discrepancies in the model/data comparison grow as time advances because the numerical model does not simulate the shoreline dynamics accurately. Introducing small temporal and spatial shifts in the comparison yields adequate agreement during the entire rundown process. Highly resolved numerical solutions are used to study physical variables that are not measured in laboratory experiments (e.g. pressure field and bottom shear stress). It is shown that the main mechanism for vortex shedding is correlated with the large pressure gradient along the slope as the rundown flow transitions from supercritical to subcritical, under the developing hydraulic jump. Furthermore, the bottom shear stress analysis indicates that the largest values occur at the shoreline and that the relatively large bottom shear stress also takes place within the supercritical flow region, being associated with the backwash vortex system rather than the plunging wave. It is clearly demonstrated that the combination of laboratory observations and numerical simulations have indeed provided significant insights into the swash flow processes.

An experimental results on the spatio-temporal variation of velocity field and vortex structure, generated from the separated boundary layers on the offshore side of the still-water shoreline, during the run-down process of non-breaking solitary waves over a 1:3 sloping beach are presented. Three waves having the incident wave-height to water-depth ratios (H0/h0) of 0.363, 0.263, and 0.171 were generated in a wave flume. Two flow visualization techniques and high-speed particle image velocimetry were employed. The primary topics and new findings are: (1) Mechanism of the incipient flow separation, accompanied by formation of the separated shear layer from the beach surface, is elucidated under the adverse pressure gradient, using the fine data of velocity measurements very close to the sloping boundary. (2) Occurrence of hydraulic jump subsequently followed by development of the tongue-shaped free surface and projecting jet is demonstrated through spatio-temporal variation in the Froude number. It is confirmed by a change in the Froude number from supercritical to subcritical range as the free surface rapidly rises from the onshore to offshore side. (3) A complete evolution of the primary vortex structure (including the core position, vortex size, and velocity distribution passing through the vortex core) is first introduced systematically, together with the illustration of temporal variation in the topological structure. The non-dimensional shoreward distance of the vortex core section decreases with the increase in the non-dimensional time. However, the non-dimensional size height of the primary vortex increases with increasing non-dimensional time. (4) Two universal similarity profiles for both the wall jet flow and the shear layer flow demonstrate independency of the two similarity profiles of the wave-height to water-depth ratio and the beach slope. The similarity profiles indicate the promising collapse of the data from three previous studies for 1:20, 1:10, and 1:5 sloping beaches.

The characteristics of flow fields for a complete evolution of the non-breaking solitary wave, having a wave-height to water-depth ratio of 0.363 and propagating over a 1:5 sloping bottom, are investigated experimentally. This study mainly focuses on the occurrences of both flow separation on the boundary layer under an adverse pressure gradient and subsequent hydraulic jump with the abrupt rising of free surface during rundown motion of the shoaling wave, together with emphasis on the evolution of vortex structures underlying the separated shear layer and hydraulic jump. A flow visualization technique with particle trajectory method and a high-speed particle image velocimetry (HSPIV) system with a high-speed digital camera were used. Based on the instantaneous flow images visualized and/or the ensemble-averaged velocity fields measured, the following interesting features, which are unknown up-to-date, are presented and discussed in this study: (1) Flow bifurcation occurring on both offshore and onshore sides of the explicit demarcation curve and the stagnation point during runup motion; (2) The dependence of the diffuser-like flow field, being changed from the supercritical flow in the shallower region to the subcritical flow in the deeper counterpart, on the Froude number during the early and middle stages of rundown motion; (3) The positions and times for the occurrences of the incipient flow separation and the sudden rising of free surface of the hydraulic jump; (4) The associated movement and evolution of vortex structures under the separated shear layer, the hydraulic jump and/or the high-speed external main stream of the retreated flow; and (5) The entrainment of air bubbles from the free surface into the external main stream of the retreated flow.

No abstract

No abstract