Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T10:28:45.281Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Large-scale modulations of edge waves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

T. R. Akylas
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Abstract

The temporal and spatial evolution of large-scale modulations of weakly nonlinear edge waves on a uniformly sloping beach is studied using the full water-wave formulation for beach angles α = π/2N. Equations governing the evolution of envelopes of edge waves, excited by resonant interactions with incident wavetrains, are derived. It is deduced that a uniform train of free periodic edge waves is always unstable to large-scale variations, so that envelope solitons will develop; the resulting three-dimensional solitons are described in detail. In addition, it is shown that steady-state standing subharmonic edge waves, excited by incident wavetrains on a long, mildly sloping beach, can be unstable to large-scale modulations. The possible physical significance of these findings is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1983 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Benney, D. J. & Newell, A. C. 1967 J. Maths & Phys. 46, 133139.
Bowen, A. J. & Inman, D. L. 1969 J. Geophys. Res. 74, 54795490.
Foda, M. A. & Mei, C. C. 1981 J. Fluid Mech. 111, 319345.
Gallagher, B. 1971 J. Fluid Mech. 49, 120.
Galvin, C. J. 1965 Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 46, 112.
Greenspan, H. P. 1956 J. Fluid Mech. 1, 574592.
Guza, R. T. & Bowen, A. J. 1976 J. Mar. Res. 34, 269293.
Guza, R. T. & Davis, R. E. 1974 J. Geophys. Res. 79, 12851291.
Guza, R. T. & Inman, D. L. 1975 J. Geophys. Res. 80, 29973011.
Minzoni, A. A. & Whitham, G. B. 1977 J. Fluid Mech. 79, 273287.
Munk, W. H. 1949 Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 30, 849854.
Munk, W. H., Snodgrass, F. & Carrier, G. F. 1956 Science 123, 127132.
Rockliff, N. 1978 Math. Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 83, 463479.
Stokes, C. G. 1846 In Proc. 16th Meet. Brit. Assn Adv. Sci., Southampton, pp. 120. John Murray.
Tucker, M. J. 1950 Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A202, 565–573.
Whitham, G. B. 1976 J. Fluid Mech. 74, 353368.
Whitham, G. B. 1979 Lectures on Wave Propagation, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay. Springer.
Zakharov, V. E. & Shabat, A. B. 1972 Sov. Phys. JETP 34, 62.