Laboratory and numerical experiments on stem waves due to monochromatic waves along a vertical wall

Abstract

In this study, both laboratory and numerical experiments are conducted to investigate stem waves propagating along a vertical wall developed by the incidence of monochromatic waves. The results show the following features: for small-amplitude waves, the wave heights along the wall show a slowly varying undulation. Normalized wave heights perpendicular to the wall show a standing wave pattern. The overall wave pattern in the case of small-amplitude waves shows a typical diffraction pattern around a semi-infinite thin breakwater. As the amplitude of incident waves increases, both the undulation intensity and the asymptotic normalized wave height decrease along the wall. For larger-amplitude waves with smaller angle of incidence, the measured data clearly show stem waves. Numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the results of laboratory experiments. The results of present experiments favorably support the existence and the properties of stem waves found by other researchers using numerical simulations. The characteristics of the stem waves generated by the incidence of monochromatic Stokes waves are compared with those of the Mach stem of solitary waves.