Modelling of a wave-induced vortex near a breakwater

A single solitary wave interacting at normal incidence with a semi-infinite vertical breakwater results in the formation of a single vortex which is subsequently shed from the structure. In this paper, we describe experiments which were conducted using a solitary wave propagating along a uniform depth wave flume past a vertical wall. Both surface elevations and strength of the vortex were measured in the experiments. A fully nonlinear Boussinesq model with Smagorinsky subgrid mixing is then employed to simulate the experiments. Comparisons are made between the numerical results and experimental data. It is shown that the present numerical model is capable of simulating wave-induced vortices. It is also shown that the model predicts wave height better than the potential flow models do.