Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2018, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (6): 33-40.doi: 10.11978/2018013CSTR: 32234.14.2018013

• Marine Hydrography • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Air entrainment and bubble movement processes in breaking waves

Bin DENG1,2,3(), Yao TANG1,2,3, Changbo JIANG1,2,3(), Mengfei WANG1   

  1. 1. School of Hydraulic Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha 410114, China;
    2. Key Laboratory of Water-Sediment Sciences and Water Disaster Prevention of Hunan Province, Changsha 410114, China
    3. International Research Center of Water Science & Environmental Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha 410114, China;
  • Received:2018-01-24 Online:2018-11-20 Published:2018-12-24
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China (51509023,51239001);Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (2018JJ3535);Scholarship Program supported by China Scholarship Council (201608430158)

Abstract:

To investigate how air is entrained and the formation and transport of bubbles under breaking waves, we carry out studies using particle image velocimetry (PIV), high-speed camera, bubble measuring system, and a three-dimensional numerical model based on the Navier-Stokes equations. The results show that the established numerical model can reasonably capture the air entrainment and bubble transport process under the action of breaking wave. A large bubble cavity is formed during wave breaking phase, which in turn produces a large amount of bubble cloud. Bubbles increase the turbulence of water, resulting in the formation of a large number of vortexes and water splash near the interface with the air. The burst of bubbles consumes a large amount of wave energy, and the larger turbulent kinetic energy is related to bubble generation. Moreover, we find that the number of bubbles increases linearly with the increase of average turbulent kinetic energy.

Key words: breaking wave, air entrainment, bubble, OpenFOAM, turbulent kinetic energy

CLC Number: 

  • P731.22