Two-phase flow simulation of breaking solitary waves over surface-piercing and submerged conical structures

Abstract

A two-phase flow model is employed to study three-dimensional (3D) breaking of solitary waves over surface-piercing and submerged conical structures. Details of the wave pre-breaking, overturning, and post-breaking processes are included. The governing equations are discretized by the finite volume method and the PISO algorithm is utilized for the pressure-velocity coupling. The air–water interface is captured using a volume of fluid approach and the Cartesian cut-cell method is implemented to deal with the complex topography of the conical structures. The method is validated first using available experimental data of a solitary wave propagating over a surface-piercing conical island and good agreement between the experiment and simulation data is obtained. The model is then applied to study 3D breaking waves over a submerged conical structure, with 3D wave profiles and surface velocities being presented and discussed. The detailed 3D velocity fields, energy dissipation and transformation during the wave breaking process are presented.