Wave Asymmetry Research Articles

Influence of cnoidal wave-induced seepage force on shields number in shallow water

Sediment incipient motion in shallow water is a major concern for coastal engineers. Wave-induced seepage force has reportedly had an important impact on the sediment incipience. The effect of wave asymmetry and skewness is important for defining nearshore wave motions and the resulting sediment movement, but it has been discounted in most previous studies considering seepage. Using analytical and numerical models, this study examines the influence of two-dimensional nonlinear wave-induced seepage forces on sediment incipient motions in shallow water. A new modified Shields number was derived, which better addresses the problem of seepage. The results indicate that seepage force could stabilize the sand particles by lowering the maximum Shields number by up to 38.0%; in the linear wave cases, the opposite is true. This discrepancy is subject to the nonlinearity and asymmetry of shallow wave motions, as well as the decreasing “suction” force and increasing “injection” force. Besides, disregarding horizontal seepage would greatly underestimate the contribution of seepage to sediment incipient motions, especially in situations with steeper waves or an unsaturated and less permeable seabed. A lower Young's modulus, larger saturation, permeability, and water depth would all considerably decrease the maximum Shields number.

Transportation of Objects on an Inclined Plane Oscillating in the Longitudinal Direction Applying Dynamic Dry Friction Manipulations

A transportation system requires an asymmetry to achieve objects’ motion on an oscillating surface. Transportation methods based on vibrational techniques usually employ different types of asymmetries, such as temporal (time) asymmetry, kinematic asymmetry, wave asymmetry or power asymmetry. However, transporting an object on an inclined angle requires a relatively high net frictional force over each period of vibrational cycles due to the gravitational potential energy exerted on the object. This paper investigates the transportation of an object upward on an inclined plane that harmonically oscillates in its longitudinal direction. The novelty of this research is attributed to the upward motion of the object on the inclined plane, which is achieved by creating an additional asymmetry of the system through dry friction dynamic manipulations. For this reason, periodic dynamic dry friction manipulations have been employed to create the asymmetry of frictional conditions, resulting in a net frictional force that outweighs the gravitational force. A mathematical model has been developed using the Lagrange method, which describes the moving object’s motion. Moreover, the theoretical findings and results confirmed that the object’s velocity and direction can be controlled by dynamic dry friction manipulations. To demonstrate the technical feasibility of the proposed method, an experimental investigation was carried out where the results demonstrated that the control parameters significantly influence the characteristics of the directional motion of the moving object. This transportation method is beneficial for various modern industries engaged in transportation and manipulation tasks with objects spanning a broad range of sizes, including those operating at small scales for applications in lab-on-a-chip technology, micro-assembly lines, micro-feeder systems and other delicate component manipulation systems. The presented research advances the classical theories of vibrational transportation on inclined surfaces.

Parameterisation and evolution of non-breaking wave nonlinearity over flexible vegetation

Wave nonlinearity significantly influences wave attenuation and can cause sediment transport imbalances in vegetated zones, impacting shoreline stability and ecosystem-based coastal defences. Despite its importance, the parameterisation and mechanisms of wave nonlinearity evolution over flexible vegetation remain unclear. This study examines the mechanisms behind non-breaking wave nonlinearity evolution over flexible vegetation and provides parameterisation of wave nonlinearity, based on experimental data collected by Anderson and Smith (2014). The study derives a new set of empirical formulae for predicting wave nonlinearity in Spartina alterniflora, which considers Ursell number, relative vegetation width, vegetation submergence, and vegetation density. The predictions made using these formulae are in good agreement with the measurements. The results indicate a decrease in wave skewness across the span of vegetation, whereas wave asymmetry increases until it reaches a maximum before decreasing. The findings suggest a preferential dissipation of high harmonics compared to low harmonics in the vegetation zone. Additionally, bispectrum analysis reveals that vegetation enhances the difference interaction while suppressing the sum interaction between wave components. The findings enable improvements in our understanding of wave nonlinearity in vegetation, providing better predictive capabilities for wave attenuation and sediment transport, which are crucial for the design and optimization of coastal defence systems.

Plasma evolution mechanism and distribution characteristics of supersonic vehicles

During the flight of hypersonic vehicle, air will be decomposed and ionized due to the “friction” under ultra-high speed, thus forming a plasma layer. Because the plasma has the ability to absorb and reflect electromagnetic waves, the “black barrier” phenomenon is formed. In addition, when the hypersonic vehicle passes through the atmosphere, the surface temperature rises sharply due to aerodynamic heating, and the surface material undergoes a series of complex changes to form ablation. In this paper, the finite volume method and the laminar finite rate model are used to study the flow field velocity, pressure distribution, flow field temperature, and spatial distribution of each component of the aircraft at different Mach numbers, angles of attack, and heights. In the flow field of supersonic aircraft, N and O are mainly concentrated in the tail of the aircraft, NO is mainly concentrated in the head of the aircraft, and N2 and O2 are full of the whole space. Because of the accumulation of NO+ and O2+ in the tail of the aircraft, the charge accumulation is formed, which will further interfere with the electromagnetic wave signal. The mass fraction of N and O increases with the increase in Mach numbers, while the mass fraction of O2 decreases with the increase in Mach numbers. Different angles of attack will affect the asymmetry of the shock wave of the aircraft. In this paper, the evolution mechanism and distribution characteristics of aircraft plasma are revealed, which lay a theoretical foundation for solving the problem of black barrier and ablation.

Modeling Form Roughness Induced by Tidal Sand Waves

AbstractTide‐dominated sandy shelf seas, such as the Dutch North Sea, are covered by sand waves. Yet, basin‐scale hydrodynamic models do not include any sand wave information because their grid sizes are too coarse to resolve sand waves individually. We explore the possibility of parametrizing the effects of sand waves on the larger‐scale tidal flow by means of a form roughness. Specifically, our aim is to see to what extent the flow over a sand wave field can be reproduced by that over a flat seabed with an increased effective roughness (accounting for both grain and form roughness). To do so, we use two process‐based hydrodynamic models: a second order perturbation approach, and Delft3D. Both models demonstrate that the presence of sand waves causes amplitude decrease and phase shift of the tidal flow. We explore the dependencies of form roughness on different sand wave characteristics (wavelength, height and asymmetry). Shorter and higher sand waves cause a higher form roughness, while our analysis does not reveal any dependency on sand wave asymmetry. Notably, the consideration of a tidal flow, characterized by several tidal constituents, each represented by an amplitude and a phase, results in a more complex form roughness analysis than in a fluvial setting, where the flow is unidirectional and steady. We thus obtain an amplitude‐based form roughness and a phase‐based form roughness, each yielding a different value, yet displaying the same qualitative dependencies.

Unusual optical phenomena inside and near a rotating sphere: the photonic hook and resonance.

Based on the optical Magnus effect, the analytical expressions of the electromagnetic field that a spinning dielectric sphere illuminated by polarized plane waves are derived according to the "instantaneous rest-frame" hypothesis and Minkowski's theory. More attention is paid to the near field. The unusual optical phenomena in mesoscale spheres without material and illumination wave asymmetry that are the photonic hook (PH) and whispering gallery mode (WGM)-like resonance caused by rotation are explored. The impact of resonance scattering on PHs is further analyzed under this framework. The influence of non-reciprocal rotating dimensionless parameter γ on PH and resonance is emphasized. The results in this paper have extensive application prospects in mesotronics, particle manipulation, resonator design, mechatronics, and planetary exploration.

Laboratory observation of nonlinear wave shapes due to spatial varying opposing currents

Physical experiments were conducted to examine the influence of adverse currents on the propagation of shallower water waves and their impact on the evolution of nonlinear wave shapes. Irregular waves, characterized by varying initial peak periods and amplitudes, were generated in a physical wave flume equipped with a bottom slope of 1/20. Three groups of spatially varying opposing currents were generated in the flume and interacted with the aforementioned wave trains. Experimental results confirm that strong opposing currents can significantly intensify local wave nonlinearity, thereby further influencing the deformation characteristics of waves. In contrast, a weak opposing current (without wave-blocking) has a negligible effect. Bicoherence analysis revealed that the degree of phase coupling among triads of waves increased with an elevated current velocity before wave-blocking. Nevertheless, during partial wave-blocking, the degree of phase coupling was seemingly weakened by an increase in opposing current. Moreover, the influence of a co-existing current in the formation of extreme waves was recognized. The study confirms that adverse currents notably affect extreme wave steepness and extreme wave skewness, with a negligible impact on extreme wave asymmetry. As a result, empirical formulas modified by current effects are presented, describing certain key nonlinear wave shapes as functions of the local Ursell number.

Morphological Changes in Storm Hinnamnor and the Numerical Modeling of Overwash

Constant changes occur in coastal areas over different timescales, requiring observation and modeling. Specifically, modeling morphological changes resulting from short-term events, such as storms, is of great importance in coastal management. Parameter calibration is necessary to achieve more accurate simulations of process-based models that focus on specific locations and event characteristics. In this study, the XBeach depth-averaged model was adopted to simulate subaerial data pre- and post-storms, and overwash phenomena were observed using the data acquired through unmanned aerial vehicles. The parameters used for the model calibration included those proposed in previous studies. However, an emphasis was placed on calibrating the parameters related to sediment transport that were directly associated with overwash and deposition. Specifically, the parameters corresponding to the waveform parameters, wave skewness, and wave asymmetry were either integrated or separated to enable an adequate representation of the deposition resulting from overwash events. The performance and sensitivity of the model to changes in volume were assessed. Overall, the waveform parameters exhibit significant sensitivity to volume changes, forming the basis for calibrating the deposition effects caused by overwashing. These results are expected to assist in the more effective selection and calibration of parameters for simulating sediment deposition due to overwash events.

Asymmetric conversion of arbitrary vortex fields via acoustic metasurface

Asymmetric manipulation of acoustic waves has gained significant attention due to its rich physical properties and potential application prospects. In this study, we design and demonstrate a planar acoustic metasurface (AM) that enables asymmetric conversion for vortex fields with arbitrary orbital angular momentum (OAM) to different plane waves by placing the same vortex source at different focusing points of above and below. This asymmetric effect is caused by the spatial asymmetry of vortex wave, and AM achieves the conversion of two types of waves through directional compensation of phases. Numerical demonstrations and acoustic experiments further validate this asymmetric phenomenon, and the deflection angle of converted plane waves is qualitatively and quantitatively confirmed by a more general formula. Our work enriches the research meta-system of acoustic wave physics and holds potential applications in underwater acoustic communication and OAM-based devices.

Experimental observation on wave propagation and geomorphological evolution in a sandbar-lagoon system

The sandbar-lagoon coast, one of the most productive and valuable ecosystems, has been strongly exposed to severe degradation. Excessive erosions aggravate the fragility of sandbar-lagoon systems. In order to seek adaptable solutions for ecological restoration, it is essential to study the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic characteristics. In this study, a series of flume experiments are conducted to investigate the wave propagation and geomorphological evolution in a typical sandbar-lagoon system. The time-series of swell and infragravity waves are obtained by a simple time-domain separation method, where wave reflection coefficient, skewness and asymmetry are calculated separately. The following conclusions can be drawn. To quantitatively assess the experimental results, a critical parameter ζ is introduced involving the incident wave height, the water depth and the sandbar freeboard. There is a linear relationship between wave attenuation and ζ. Further, a linear dependence on the maximum erosion thickness of foredune is achieved, and the maximum erosion thickness of sandbar increases with the increasing incident wave height by a superb linear correlation. Additionally, the shape transition of foredune scarp is significantly correlated with the dramatic change of the water level rise in the lagoon and the infragravity wave reflection. These findings promote better understanding for the morphodynamics of typical sandbar-lagoon systems and provide fundamental and scientific evidences on further coastal engineering.

EFFECTS OF WAVE SKEWNESS AND ASYMMETRY ON THE EVOLUTION OF FIRE ISLAND, NEW YORK

Bedload transport of sediment by waves and currents is one of the key physical processes that affect the evolution of coasts, nearshore areas, and the engineering practices there. Wave skewness and asymmetry, both of which increase as waves shoal, result in a net bedload sediment flux over a wave cycle. The impacts of this mechanism on large-scale coastal and shoreline change are investigated in this study, using field observations and Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Wave Sediment Transport (COAWST), a hydrodynamic process-based numerical modeling system (Warner et al., 2010). The study site is Fire Island, New York, located at the Atlantic Coast of the USA, with a focus on the persistent shoreline shape, at the western half of this 50-km-long barrier island, that has been hypothesized to be linked to the sand deposits at the shoreface.

Alpha wave asymmetry is associated with only one component of melancholia, and in different directions across brain regions.

Alpha wave asymmetry inconsistently correlates with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). One possible reason for this inconsistency is the heterogeneity of MDD, leading to study of depressive 'subtypes', one of which is Melancholia. To investigate the correlation between Melancholia and alpha-wave asymmetry, 100 community participants (44 males, 56 females; aged at least 18yr) completed the Zung self-rated Depression Scale, and underwent 3min of eyes closed EEG recording from 24 scalp sites. There was no significant correlation between EEG data and Melancholia total score for the entire sample, but there was for those participants who had clinically significant depression (n=33). When examined at the level of individual Melancholia scale items, significant EEG data correlations were found for some of the items but not for others. Factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure for the Melancholia scale, only one of which exhibited significant correlations with EEG AA data. Further exploration of those data identified two subcomponents of that Melancholia factor, one which was inversely correlated with frontal alpha asymmetry, and another which was directly correlated with parietal-occipital alpha wave asymmetry. These findings suggest that Melancholia may itself be heterogeneous, similarly to MDD, and rely upon different aspects of cognitive function.

On the Mechanisms Generating the Nearshore Bars on a Sandy Coastal Slope

The study is aimed at investigation of the problem in what conditions the morphodynamic self-organizational mechanism controlling the growth of small perturbations arisen on bed could be responsible for the nearshore bars development. A simplified sediment transport model is used in which the sediment discharge is turned out directly proportional to the local bed slope. This model allows reducing the problem to an analytical solving of the diffusion equation which gives the base to predict the evolution of perturbation arisen on bed. The conclusion is argued that the favorable preconditions for the nearshore bar formation can exist in the case of onshore sediment transport associated with the dominating contribution of wave asymmetry in transport process. However under conditions of steep stormy waves the undertow is developed providing offshore sediment flux from the beach. In this case, the breaker bar is formed by two mechanisms–self-organization and convergence of opposite sediment fluxes. The results obtained are in agreement with available data and also assist to explain some properties of multiple-bar systems found out from observations.

Effects of currents on nonlinear wave transformation in a reef-lagoon-channel system

Wave nonlinearity can drive the near-bed sediment transport and nutrient delivery on coral reefs. Previous studies have primarily concentrated on the wave nonlinearity evolution for a specific cross-shore profile and have scarcely taken the effects of currents into consideration. To better understand the nonlinear wave transformation on reef coasts, the wave height distribution and wave nonlinearity evolution are analyzed based on 3D reef-lagoon-channel experiments in a wave basin. By taking the current velocity into consideration, the Glukhovskiy distribution function is improved in calculating the probability of large wave height in the sequence. Wave skewness and asymmetry on the reef and in the channel are parameterized with the Ursell number considering the Doppler effect induced by opposing or following currents. The accuracies for estimating wave skewness and asymmetry are improved by 39% and 66%, respectively. The influence of Doppler effect on wave shapes on the reef flat and in the channel varies significantly with the incident wave heights and reef submergences. Furthermore, it is also noticed that the reduction of local water depth caused by the propagation of infragravity wave troughs increases short-wave skewness at individual wave scale on the middle of reef flat, while its effect on short-wave asymmetry is not significant.

Influence of the Initial Beach Profile on the Sediment Transport Processes During Post‐Storm Onshore Bar Migration

AbstractOnshore bar migration is a characteristic bar behavior during post‐storm beach recovery. The present large‐scale experiments, feature bichromatic wave groups over an initially steep (1:15), fully‐evolving beach. The same accretive wave condition is applied on two different post‐storm beach profiles featuring outer and inner bars. They are characterized by a larger (smaller) shoreline erosion and a larger (smaller) outer breaker bar located farther away from (closer to) the shoreline depending on the larger (smaller) energy of the storm condition. After a considerable post‐storm recovery time, similar equilibrium profiles are obtained, stressing the link between wave condition and equilibrium beach configuration. However, the evolution toward the equilibrium is different and depends on the initial morphological condition (post‐storm beach profile). After the larger storm, the morphological evolution is termed accretive merging (AM) and characterized by merging of the two bars (outer bar dissipation). After the smaller storm, the morphological evolution denoted as accretive non‐merging (AN) is characterized by onshore migration of the two bars with constant distance between them (bar maintenance). This study focuses on processes around the outer bar. During AN it features wave breaking, causing large suspended net offshore transport. AM, in contrast, mainly features bedload related to short wave asymmetries and low decomposed net transport rate magnitudes. High suspended net offshore transport occurs solely onshore of the outer bar trough. This causes filling of the bar trough and bar dissipation during migration. Additionally, processes around the outer bars are linked to accretion onshore of the bars and at the shoreline.

Improved analysis method on extreme upwell of irregular waves for the airgap of floating platforms based on OTG-13

Analysis on air gap is an essential job for the design of the semi-submersible platforms. According to OTG-13 by DET NORSKE VERITAS (DNV) in 2019, the extreme up well in severe irregular waves is the most dominant negative gain of the air gap and should be paid close attention to. Accordingly, in the present study, firstly the frequency-domain analysis method was introduced to predict the extremum of waves up well under a relatively severe sea state among the survival conditions. And the calculation results were found to be much larger than the experimental data of the model test (relative error can be 30%–75%). This leads to the extremely conservativeness of air gap evaluation according to OTG-13. Consequently, further studies were done to explore the deeper reason for such conservativeness. By analyzing the whole process of calculation, the misestimate of the two "details": the viscous effect of water and the wave asymmetry factors, are found to be the causes of the conservativeness of the OTG-13. Then, an improved analysis method of extreme upwell based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solution of wave surface elevation was presented and found to be more practical. In fact, the relative error can be less than 10% in the case that those two "details" are evaluated more precisely. Next, the influence of those two "details" on the extreme upwell were further quantitatively discussed respectively by variable-controlling approach, and it is noticed that the accurate estimation of the wave asymmetry is dominated (relative error can thus reduce to 10%–23%). Finally, a more reasonable preliminary design method was proposed, which is by introducing the actual wave asymmetry factor to the calculation of the extreme up well and air gap based on the CFD solution.

Higher-order rogue waves with controllable fission and asymmetry localized in a (3 + 1)-dimensional generalized Boussinesq equation

The purpose of this paper is to report the feasibility of constructing high-order rogue waves with controllable fission and asymmetry for high-dimensional nonlinear evolution equations. Such a nonlinear model considered in this paper as the concrete example is the (3 + 1)-dimensional generalized Boussinesq (gB) equation, and the corresponding method is Zhaqilao’s symbolic computation approach containing two embedded parameters. It is indicated by the (3 + 1)-dimensional gB equation that the embedded parameters can not only control the center of the first-order rogue wave, but also control the number of the wave peaks split from higher-order rogue waves and the asymmetry of higher-order rogue waves about the coordinate axes. The main novelty of this paper is that the obtained results and findings can provide useful supplements to the method used and the controllability of higher-order rogue waves.

Inter-comparison of wave skewness and asymmetry estimation using wavelet, Fourier and statistical methods

The traditional definition of wavelet bispectrum does not give the quantification of the bispectral content of an area of frequency–frequency space and bicoherence for signals exhibiting rapidly changing amplitudes and limited length can be misleading. To overcome these drawbacks, this research applies a newly defined quantitative wavelet bispectrum to the analysis of wave skewness and asymmetry over typical coastal topographies. Comparing with statistical methods and the Fourier-based bispectrum, the quantitative wavelet bispectrum with a lognormal mother wavelet is validated and can be used to calculate wave skewness and asymmetry. Parameters that can influence the wavelet transform is analyzed. For laboratory cases, number of voices nv=8 is adequate to discretize the interested frequency band with sufficient resolution. The influence of wavelet peak frequency is analyzed. The magnitude of wavelet derived skewness (Sk) and asymmetry (As) increases with an increasing f0. Based on the analysis results, procedures to carry out wavelet transform to analyze wave records is suggested.

Modeling of Coastal Erosion in Exposed and Groin-Protected Steep Beaches

Process-based models are suitable tools for reproducing storm-driven erosion. However, their performance has been mainly examined on mild-slope sandy beaches and their use on steep beaches still represents a challenge. Here, open-source process-based model XBeach experiments were combined with topographical measurements collected for two storms (16- and 5-year return period) to obtain a reliable model. The model parameters “facua” (parameterized wave asymmetry and skewness sediment transport component), “bermslope” (upslope transport term for semireflective beaches), and “wetslope” (critical avalanching submerged slope) were utilized for calibration and validation. The 16-year storm simulations on an exposed beach revealed that whether bermslope increased and “facua” must be reduced, and vice versa, to properly simulate erosion. Adding bermslope provided excellent results for these storms when using facua and wetslope values close to the recommended values. In a groin-protected site, XBeach was successfully calibrated and validated for the tested storms using these parameters, although with different values. These experiments demonstrated that the appropriate use of these parameters can satisfactorily simulate morphological changes on steep beaches for different hydrodynamic conditions and coastal settings (exposed and groin protected).

Chenier Formation Through Wave Winnowing and Tides

AbstractCheniers are ridges consisting of coarse‐grained sediments, resting on top of the fine sediment that forms the otherwise muddy coast. In this paper, we use Delft3D to explore how cheniers are formed through wave winnowing. We identify three phases of chenier development: (a) a winnowing phase, during which mud is washed out of the seabed initially consisting of a mixture of sand and mud, (b) a sand transport phase, when the sand in the upper layer is transported onshore, and (c) a crest formation phase, during which a chenier crest rapidly develops at the landward limit of onshore sediment transport. The main mechanism driving onshore sand transport is wave asymmetry. During calm conditions, sand transport takes place within a narrow band limiting the volume of sand delivered nearshore, and therefore no chenier develops. In contrast, average storm conditions mobilize sufficient sand for a crest to develop. Our results thus reveal that chenier formation through wave winnowing does not require extreme storm conditions. Furthermore, our study showed that chenier formation through wave winnowing is a relatively slow process, with the largest time scales associated with the winnowing and sand transport. Once sufficient sand is available in the intertidal zone, the crest develops rapidly.