Numerical investigation of third-order resonant interactions between two gravity wave trains in deep water

Abstract

Intense resonant interactions between two deep-water gravity waves can lead to the bending and then splitting of crests and troughs. The curvatures of the crests and troughs increase with an increase of the primary wave's steepness and the resonant wave's propagation distance. For primary waves with small steepness, the crest and trough lines will eventually split, as long as the propagation distance is sufficiently large. The crest line is split into a longer segment with a larger wave crest and a shorter one with a smaller wave crest.