Stability and dynamics of two-dimensional fully nonlinear gravity–capillary solitary waves in deep water

Abstract

The stability and dynamics of two-dimensional gravity–capillary solitary waves in deep water within the fully nonlinear water-wave equations are numerically studied. It is well known that there are two families of symmetric gravity–capillary solitary waves – depression waves and elevation waves – bifurcating from infinitesimal periodic waves at the minimum of the phase speed. The stability of both branches was previously examined by Calvo & Akylas (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 452, 2002, pp. 123–143) by means of a numerical spectral analysis. Their results show that the depression solitary waves with single-valued profiles are stable, while the elevation branch experiences a stability exchange at a turning point on the speed–amplitude curve. In the present paper, we provide numerical evidence that the depression solitary waves with an overhanging structure are also stable. On the other hand, Dias et al. (Eur. J. Mech. B, vol. 15, 1996, pp. 17–36) numerically traced the elevation branch and discovered that its speed–amplitude bifurcation curve features a ‘snake-like’ behaviour with many turning points, whereas Calvo & Akylas (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 452, 2002, pp. 123–143) only considered the stability exchange near the first turning point. Our results reveal that the stability exchange occurs again near the second turning point. A branch of asymmetric solitary waves is also considered and found to be unstable, even when the wave profile consists of a depression wave and a stable elevation one. The excitation of stable gravity–capillary solitary waves is carried out via direct numerical simulations. In particular, the stable elevation waves, which feature two troughs connected by a small dimple, can be excited by moving two fully localised, well-separated pressures on the free surface with the speed slightly below the phase speed minimum and removing the pressures simultaneously after a period of time.