Propagation characteristics of tsunami waves in shear flow based on the Boussinesq model with constant vorticity

Abstract

Propagation of tsunami wave in linear shear flow with constant vorticity is studied in this paper. The nonlinear and dispersive Boussinesq equations for water waves in shear flow are derived by introducing uniform vorticity into the Euler equations. Generally, the transoceanic propagation of tsunami can be well simulated by the weakly nonlinear Boussinesq model. Thus, the nonlinear and dispersive terms are retained to the first-order and second-order (ϵ,μ2) respectively in the Boussinesq equations with uniform vorticity in the present work, which satisfies the simulation accuracy especially the dispersion effects of the long-distance propagation of tsunamis and does not require huge computational cost for the simulation. The set of equations is solved with the total variation diminishing (TVD) Lax–Wendroff scheme which is second-order both in space and time. This TVD scheme is applicable to handle the dispersion effects of the N-waves and undular bores. Different patterns of tsunami wave in the water with presence of vorticity are simulated by the numerical model. Wave height and wavelength are affected by the current with vorticity. The pattern of solitary wave is significantly changed in upstream and downstream conditions. The wave deformation and propagation speed of N-waves and undular bores in the shear flow are also studied. The vorticity has impacts on the leading crest amplitude and the maximum wave appearance time for N-wave and changes the wave amplitude and the following water level for undular bores.