Laboratory Experiments on an Internal Solitary Wave over a Triangular Barrier

Abstract

Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the evolution of interfacial internal solitary waves (ISWs) incident on a triangular barrier. ISWs with different amplitudes were generated by gravitational collapse. The ISW energy dissipation and turbulence processes were calculated as waves passed over the triangular barrier. Experimental results showed that ISWs were reflecting back off the triangular barrier, and shoaling ISWs led to wave breaking and mixing when waves propagated over the obstacle. Wave instability created the dissipation of energy as it was transmitted from waves to turbulence. The rate of ISW energy dissipation, the maximum turbulent dissipation, and the buoyancy diffusivity linearly increased with the increase in the incident wave energy.