This investigates the velocity fields of a plunging breaking wave impinging on
a structure through measurements in a two-dimensional wave tank. As the wave
breaks and overtops the structure, so-called green water is generated. The flow
becomes multi-phased and chaotic as a highly aerated region is formed in the flow in
the vicinity of the structure while water runs up onto the structure. In this study,
particle image velocimetry (PIV) was employed to measure the velocity field of the
water dominant region. For measurements of an aerated region that cannot be
measured by PIV, a new measurement method called bubble image velocimetry (BIV)
was developed. The principle and setup of the BIV method were introduced and
validated. Mean and turbulence properties were obtained through ensemble
averaging repeated tests measured by both methods. The dominant and maximum
velocity of the breaking wave and associated green water are discussed for the three
distinct phases of the impingement-runup-overtopping sequence. The distribution of
the green water velocity along the top of the structure has a nonlinear profile and the
maximum velocity occurs near the front of the fast moving water. Using the
measured data and applying dimensional analysis, a similarity profile for the green water flow on top of the structure was obtained, and a prediction equation was
formulated. The dam breaking solution used for the green water prediction was
examined with determining initial water depth based on the experiment conditions.
Comparison between measurements, the prediction equation, and the dam breaking
flow was made. The prediction equation and the dam break flow with appropriate
initial water depth may be used to predict the green water velocity caused by extreme
waves in a hurricane. To demonstrate the aeration of the breaking wave and
overtopping water, void fraction was also investigated. There is strong aeration in the
region of overtopping water front generated by a plunging breaker. Void fraction of
overtopping water was measured using a fiber optic reflectometer (FOR). The
measured velocity and void fraction were also used to estimate flow rate and water
volume of overtopping water.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1768 |
| Date | 02 June 2009 |
| Creators | Ryu, Yong Uk |
| Contributors | Chang, Kuang-An |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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