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Published September 2007 | public
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The runup of long waves

Abstract

This is a study of the fundamental physical processes of the runup of long waves with the objective to understand some coastal effects of tsunamis. The runup of nonbreaking long waves on plane beaches is studied and an exact solution is developed for the runup of solitary waves. The maximum runup predicted by this solution is compared to laboratory data from this and other investigations and it is found to be in good agreement. A runup transducer was developed and deployed in the laboratory to provide data for the shape of the runup tongue. The exact solution is shown to model the details of the climb of the wave satisfactorily. The runup of breaking long waves on plane beaches is investigated in the laboratory by studying different long waves and bores of [mite volume. The runup is shown to be a function of a momentum scale determined from the generation characteristics of the incoming wave. The runup number is introduced and it is demonstrated that it models the runup process adequately. It is also observed that arbitrary long waves have runup numbers smaller than, or at most equal to, the runup number of breaking solitary waves, suggesting that on a given plane beach breaking solitary waves run-up further than other long waves with similar generation characteristics. An exact result is established for the force on an accelerating plate in a fluid with a free surface. The result is used to explain some of the results of this study and other results on the hydrodynamic forces on moving partitions. A technique is developed to generate arbitrary, long, continuously evolving waves at any desired location in a laboratory model. The technique is applied in the laboratory and it is shown to be successful in reproducing complex waveforms.

Additional Information

I would like to acknowledge the support of my adviser Fred Raichlen throughout the progress of my work. I would also like to thank him for arranging for a major part of the funding for this study. In this regard, I acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation through the following contracts: ENV77-20499, CEE79-1234, CEE81-15457 and CEE84-10087. I am also grateful for the partial support of the Alexander Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. I would like to thank John List and Norman Brooks for supporting my earlier work with the contracts CME77-27398 and ENG77-10182 and EPA/CH2M Hill ENG-238.

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Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 24, 2023