Large Eddy Simulation for Wave Breaking in the Surf Zone

In this paper, (he large eddy simulation method is used combined with the marker and cell method to study the wave propagation or shoaling and breaking process. As wave propagates into shallow water, the shoaling leads to the increase of wave height, and then at a certain position, the wave will be breaking. The breaking wave is a powerful agent for generating turbulence, which plays an important role in most of the fluid dynamic processes throughout the surf zone, such as transformation of wave energy, generation of near-shore current and diffusion of materials. So a proper numerical model for describing the turbulence effect is needed. In this paper, a revised Smagorinsky subgrid-scale mode! is used to describe the turbulence effect. The present study reveals thai the coefficient of the Smagorinsky model for wave propagation or breaking simulation may be taken as a varying function of the water depth and distance away from the wave breaking point. The large eddy simulation model presented in this paper has been used to study the propagation of the solitary wave in constant water depth and the shoaling of the non-breaking solitary wave on a beach. The model is based on large eddy simulation, and to track free-surface movements, the Tokyo University Modified Marker and Cell (TUMMAC) method is employed. In order to ensure the accuracy of each component of this wave mathematical model, several steps have been taken to verify calculated solutions with either analytical solutions or experimental data. For non-breaking waves, very accurate results are obtained for a solitary wave propagating over a constant depth and on a beach. Application of the model to cnoidal wave breaking in the surf zone shows that the model results are in good agreement with analytical solution and experimental data. From the present model results, it can be seen that the turbulent eddy viscosity increases from the bottom to the water surface in surf zone. In the eddy viscosity curve, there is a turn-point obviously, dividing water depth into two parts; in the upper part, the eddy viscosity becomes very large near the wave br eaking position.