Propagation of axi-symmetric nonlinear shallow water waves over slowly varying depth

Abstract

A problem in nonlinear water-wave propagation on the surface of an inviscid, stationary fluid is presented. The primary surface wave, suitably initiated at some radius, is taken to be a slowly evolving nonlinear cylindrical wave (governed by an appropriate Korteweg–de Vries equation); the depth is assumed to be varying in a purely radial direction. We consider a sech 2 profile at an initial radius (which is, following our scalings, rather large), and we describe the evolution as it propagates radially outwards. This initial profile was chosen because its evolution over constant depth is understood both analytically and numerically, even though it is not an exact solitary-wave solution of the cylindrical KdV equation. The propagation process will introduce reflected and re-reflected components which will also be described. The precise nature of these reflections is fixed by the requirements of mass conservation. The asymptotic results presented describe the evolution of the primary wave, the development of an outward shelf and also an inward (reflected) shelf. These results make use of specific depth variations (which were chosen to simplify the solution of the relevant equations), and mirror those obtained for the problem of 1D plane-waves over variable depth, although the details here are more complex due to the axi-symmetry.