Numerical models based on the boundary element method and Boussinesq equation are used to simulate the wave transform over a submerged bar for regular waves.In the boundary-element-method model the linear element is used,and the integrals are computed by analytical formulas.The Boussinesq-equation model is the well-known FUNWAVE from the University of Delaware.We compare the numerical free surface displacements with the laboratory data on both gentle slope and steep slope,and find that both the models simulate the wave transform well.We further compute the agreement indexes between the numerical result and laboratory data,and the results support that the boundary-element-method model has a stable good performance,which is due to the fact that its governing equation has no restriction on nonlinearity and dispersion as compared with Boussinesq equation.
A numerical wave tank is used to investigate the onset and strength of unforced wave breaking, and the waves have three types of initial spectra: constant amplitude spectrum, constant steepness spectrum and Pierson-Moscowitz spectrum. Numerical tests are performed to validate the model results. Then, the onset of wave breaking is discussed with geometric, kinematic, and dynamic breaking criteria. The strength of wave breaking, which is always characterized by the fractional energy loss and breaking strength coefficient, is studied for different spectra. The results show how the energy growth rate is better than the initial wave steepness on estimating the fractional energy losses as well as breaking strength coefficient.
