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RECORD NUMBER: 3 OF 18

Main Title Experiments on Wave Breaking in Stratified Flow over Obstacles.
Author Castro, I. P. ; Snyder., W. H. ;
CORP Author Surrey Univ., Guildford (England). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. ;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Research Triangle Park, NC. Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Div.;Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Lab.
Publisher c1993
Year Published 1993
Report Number EPA-R-817931; EPA/600/J-94/122;
Stock Number PB94-158771
Additional Subjects Stratified flow ; Ocean waves ; Wave propagation ; Three dimensional flow ; Froude number ; Breaking ; Vortices ; Flow visualization ; Water waves ; Fluid dynamics ;
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NTIS  PB94-158771 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 19p
Abstract
Towing-tank experiments on linearly stratified flow over three-dimensional obstacles of various shapes are described. Particular emphasis is given to the parameter regimes which lead to wave-breaking aloft, the most important of which is the Froude number, the Brunt-Vaisala frequency and the hill height, respectively. The effects of other parameters and the spanwise and longitudinal aspect ratios of the hill, on wave breaking are also demonstrated. It is shown that the Froude number range over which wave breaking occurs is generally much more restricted than the predictions of linear (hydrostatic) theories would suggest; nonlinear (Long's model) theories are in somewhat closer agreement with experiments. The results also show that a breaking wave aloft can exist separately from a further recirculating region downstream of the hill under a second lee wave, but that under certain circumstances these can interact to form a massive turbulent zone whose height is much greater than h. Previous theories only give estimates for the upper critical Froude number, below which breaking occurs; the experiments also reveal lower critical values, below which there is no wave breaking.