PROF.DR.

LALE BALAS
GAZ UNIVERSITY, ANKARA, TURKEY

WATER WAVE MECHANICS

CHAPTER I
 Engineering Fields Related to Wave

Ocean Engineering: Ship, water borne transport,

offshore structures (fixed and
floating platforms).

Coastal Engineering: Harbor and ports, coastal structures,

beach erosion, sediment transport
The inner shelf is a friction-dominated zone where surface
and bottom boundary layers overlap.
Conceptual diagram illustrating physical transport
processes on the inner shelf.
 SEAS
Waves under the influence of
winds in a generating area
SWELL
Waves moved away from the
generating area and no longer
influenced by winds
 CONTINENTAL SHELF

Continental shelf width is the distance from shoreline up to 200 m water depth

Shoreline
Sea surface

200 m 0.005
Shelf Edge 1
Waves are the undulatory motion of a water
surface. The simplest way of looking at
waves is the concept of a wave as a
harmonic oscillation.

Parts of a wave are

wave crest
wave trough
wave height (H)
SWL :Still water level,
wave amplitude (A=H/2) sea level with no wave
wave length (L) action

wave period (T).

 WAVE CHARACTERISTICS

A SWL
A

SWL :Still water level, sea level with no wave action

Wave amplitude A
Wave height H = 2A
Wave front

Wave orthogonal

Wave front
 Wave period T: The time necessary
between the passages of two
successive wave crests
Wave period is constant, it does not
change with depth.
Wave is periodic in time and in space
 frequency f = 1 / T
angular frequency = 2 / T
wave number k= 2 / L
wave speed c = L/ T
wave steepness H / L
Wave Pattern Combining Four Regular Waves

T1,H1

T2,H2

T3,H3

T4,H4

combined
 Wave Classification

Ocean waves can be classified in various ways.

One classification uses the forces which generate
the waves. In ascending order of wave lengths
we have:
Meteorological forcing (wind, air
pressure); sea and swell belong to this
category.
Earthquakes; they generate tsunamis,
which are shallow water or long waves.
Tides (astronomical forcing); they are
always shallow water or long waves.
Approximate distribution of ocean surface wave energy
illustrating the classification of surface waves by wave
band, primary disturbance force, and primary restoring
force.
 Linear Wave or Small Amplitude Wave Theory

Assumptions:

The water is of constant depth d

The wave motion is two-dimensional (x,z)
The waves are of constant form (do not change with
time)
The water is incompressible
Effect of viscocity, turbulence and surface tension are
neglected.
The wave steepness is H / L 1
The relative wave ratio is H /d 1
 Regular Waves
1
f ; f -- frequency (1/s) and T -- Wave period
T
a H / 2 a -- amplitude and H -- Wave height

z=a

z=0 x
SWL
z=-a
(x,t): Water surface elevation

d (or h)

z=-d
 Governing equations

Conservation of Mass: 1 d
u 0
dt
u v w
0 Continuity equation,
x y z for incompressible fluids

u ( x, z , t ) Velocity potential
x

w( x, z , t ) u 0
z
 Governing equations

Laplace Equation:

2 2
2 0
x 2
z

Navier- Stokes equation

p is pressure
du 1 2 is the water density
p F u is diffusion coefficient
dt
 Fluid is incompressible, no viscous, irrotational, etc..
Euler equation:
du 1
p F
dt
Unsteady Bernoulli equation:

p
gz 0
t
 Boundary conditions
Dynamic boundary condition at the free surface:

In z = , p = 0 g 0
t
Kinematic boundary condition at the free surface:

In z = , there can be no transport of fluid through the

free surface (the vertical velocity must equal the vertical
of the free surface

d
w u
dt t x
 Boundary conditions

Kinematic boundary condition at the bed:

In z = - d, there can be no transport of fluid through the

free surface (the vertical velocity must equal zero)

Solution (Airy 1845, Stokes 1847) :

 k= 2 / L
=2/T
H g coshk (d z)
sin( kx t )
2 cosh(kd)
progressive wave
( x , z, t ) a cos( kx t )

or

H g coshk (d z)
cos(kx t )
2 cosh(kd)

( x , z, t ) a sin( kx t ) progressive wave

 2 gk tanh( kd) Dispersion relationship

C
k Wave celerity (speed): A single
wave moves in positive x-
direction with C
g
C tanh(kd )
k
Alternate Forms for Linear Dispersion
Relationship

2 gT 2 2
L L o tanh d tanh d an iterative technique
L 2 L
is often used
Wave propagates
from deep water toward the shore
Wave period will remain constant
Other characteristics such as the height,
length, celerity, surface profile, internal
pressure field, and particle kinematics
change
To define a wave propagation,
Wave period T or wave length L
Wave height H or amplitude a
Water depth d
should be specified
Wave Classification by
Relative Depth

Deep, intermediate (transitional), and shallow

water wave.
The classification is based on the local relative
depth d/L
The relative depth limits of d/L=1/2=0.5 and
d/L=1/20=0.05 for deep and shallow water are
somewhat arbitrarily chosen.
 The classification based on the local relative depth d/L

SWL
shoreline
SHALLOW
INTERMEDIATE WATER
DEEP
WATER d/L=1/20
WATER

d/L=1/2
HYPERBOLIC FUNCTIONS

1 cosh x
sinh x
1 tanh x 1
Asymptotic Form of Hyperbolic Functions

d/L >0.5 d/L <0.05

DEEP SHALLOW
WATER WATER
Asymptotic
Form of
Hyperbolic
Functions
Deep Water Wave Length and Celerity d/L<1/2

gT 2 2d gT 2
L tanh( ) Lo 1.56T 2
2 L 2

gT 2d Co
gT
1.56T
C tanh( ) 2
2 L

(a function of wave period only)

 The classification based on the relative depth
d/LO
SWL
shoreline
SHALLOW
INTERMEDIATE WATER
DEEP
WATER
WATER
d/LO=0.0157
Lo1.56T2
Co1.56T
d/LO=1/2
DEEP WATER WAVE LENGTH AND CELERITY
 d/L<1/20 or d/Lo<0.0157

Shallow Water Wave Celerity

Wave length gT 2 2d gT 2 2d
L tanh( ) ( )
2 L 2 L
L2 gdT 2
L gd T

Wave celerity
C=L/T
C gd
(a function of depth only)
 SWL shoreline

DEEP INTERMEDIATE
SHALLOW L T gd
WATER
WATER WATER C gd
Lo1.56T2 d/LO=0.0157
Co1.56T
L function of T and d
d/LO=1/2 C function of only T
L and C function of T
and d
Lo and Co function 2 gT 2 2
of only T L L o tanh d tanh d
L 2 L
2 gT 2
C C o tanh d tanh d
L 2 L
Some Useful Functions
d/Lo>1/2 DEEP WATER
(GWT: Gravity Wave Table)
HOMEWORK I
Calculate wave length L for a propagating with a
period of T=8 sec, and with a wave height of H=2
m. At a depth of
a)d=60 m
b)d=20 m
c)d=1 m.
Draw the shape of water surface displacement for
each of the cases
 An Example Problem

A tsunami is detected at 12:00 h on the

edge of the continental shelf by a warning
system. At what time can the tsunami be
expected to reach the shoreline?

200 m 0.005
Warning system sensor 1
 Example: What is the celerity of tsunami in deep
water?

Solution:
The typical wave length of a tsunami is thousand of
kilometers and periods of hours. Since the wave
length of tsunami is very large compared with the
depth, then tsunami is a shallow water wave.

C gd 800 km / h
 Solution Explanation
depth at x how much time is required
to travel a distance dx?
d ( x ) 0.005 (40000 x )
dx
wave speed at x dt
x C( x )
C( x ) gd ( x )
h(x)
200 m 0.005
Warning system sensor 1

Ta 40000 40000 dx
dx
dt Ta=1806.1 sec
0 0 C( x ) 0 gd ( x ) =30 min.
1. Longer waves travel faster than shorter waves.
2. Small increases in T are associated with large
increases in L.
Long waves (swell) move fast and lose little energy.
Short wave moves slower and loses most energy
before reaching a distant coast.
 The photo shows waves entering shallow
water. Notice how the wave crests rise from
an almost invisible swell in the far distance.
As they enter shallow water, they also
change shape and are no longer sinus-like.
Although their period remain the same, their
distance between crests and their speed,
diminish.
the red line gives the linear relationship between wave speed and
wave period.
 SUMMARY

The shallower the water, the greater the

interaction between the wave and the
bottom alters the wave properties,
eventually causing the wave to collapse.
Wave speed decreases as depth decreases.
Wavelength decreases as depth decreases.
Wave height increases as depth decreases.
Troughs become flattened and the wave
profile becomes extremely asymmetrical.
Period remains unchanged. Period is a
fundamental property of a wave.
VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION