Abstract
Abstract. In this study, both laboratory and numerical experiments are conducted to investigate stem waves propagating along a vertical wall developed by the incidence of monochromatic waves. The results show the following features: for small-amplitude waves, the wave heights along the wall show a slowly varying undulation. Normalized wave heights perpendicular to the wall show a standing wave pattern. The overall wave pattern in the case of small-amplitude waves shows a typical diffraction pattern around a semi-infinite thin breakwater. As the amplitude of incident waves increases, both the undulation intensity and the asymptotic normalized wave height decrease along the wall. For larger-amplitude waves with smaller angle of incidence, the measured data clearly show stem waves. Numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the results of laboratory experiments. The results of present experiments favorably support the existence and the properties of stem waves found by other researchers using numerical simulations. The characteristics of the stem waves generated by the incidence of monochromatic Stokes waves are compared with those of the Mach stem of solitary waves.
Highlights
Coastal structures have been increasingly constructed in deep water regions as the size of ships becomes larger
Based on laboratory experiments of the reflection of a solitary wave propagating obliquely against a vertical wall, Perroud (1957) reported the existence of three types of waves when the angle between incident wave ray and a vertical wall is below 45◦: incident, reflected, and stem waves
Berger and Kohlhase (1976) conducted laboratory experiments and found that stem waves appeared in the case of sinusoidal waves, and that the properties of stem waves developed by sinusoidal waves showed similarities to those of solitary waves
Summary
Coastal structures have been increasingly constructed in deep water regions as the size of ships becomes larger. Lee et al (2003), Lee and Yoon (2006) and Lee and Kim (2007) performed laboratory experiments to investigate stem waves for sinusoidal waves and compared the measured waves with the numerical results obtained using a nonlinear parabolic approximation equation model. Their hydraulic experiments demonstrated stem waves for some cases with a relatively large incident wave. The major findings from this study are summarized
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
