ESOE 5136 2021 May 10 - Handout Lo

能流 )
1. Energy flux (能
Progressive water waves transmit energy. The rate at which the energy is transferred is
called the energy flux, F. The instantaneous rate (per unit width) at which work is
being done in the direction of wave propagation by the pressure due to a wave is
Z η Z η
F= p · udz = (p0 + pd ) · udz, (1)
−h −h

where p0 is the hydrostatic pressure, and pd is the dynamic pressure.

For a small-amplitude progressive wave of the form
H
η= cos(kx − ωt), (2)
2
the time-averaged (over one wave period) energy flux due to the hydrostatic pressure is
Z t+T Z η
1
F0 = p0 · udzdt
T t −h

t+T η


cosh k(h + z) 
Z Z
1 
= (−ρgz) · ωη dzdt
T t −h sinh(kh)
, (3)
Z t+T Z η
ρgω 1

=− ηdt z cosh k(h + z) dz
sinh(kh) T t −h

Z t+T Z η
ρgω 1 H

=− cos(kx − ωt)dt z cosh k(h + z) dz = 0
sinh(kh) T t 2 −h

since integrating a cosine function over one period is zero!

Similarly, we calculate the average (over one period) energy flux due to the dynamic
pressure as
Z t+T Z η
1
Fd = pd · udzdt
T t −h

t+T η



cosh k(h + z) ih cosh k(h + z) i
Z Z
1 h
= ρgη ωη dzdt
T t −h cosh(kh) sinh(kh)

cosh2 k(h + z)
Z t+T Z 0


1 2 (4)
' ρgωη dzdt
T t −h cosh(kh) sinh(kh)

ρgω H 2 2kh + sinh(2kh)

= ( )
4k 2 sinh(2kh)
h1 ih ω ih 1 2kh i
= ρgH 2 (1 + )
8 k 2 sinh(2kh)

Because F0 = 0, the time-averaged energy flux due to the wave is

h1 ih ω ih 1 2kh i
F = F0 + Fd = 0 + ρgH 2 (1 + ) = E · C · ng . (5)
8 k 2 sinh(2kh)

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ESOE 5136 2021 May 10 - Handout Lo

We recall from the wave mechanics course that

1
E = PEwave + KE = ρgH 2 (6)
8
is the total average wave energy per unit surface area, and

Cg = C · n g (7)

is called the group velocity (波 波 群 速 度 ). The group velocity indicates how fast the
energy is transmitted by the wave.
From the expression for ng in (5), we see that
 p

 C g ' C = gh, in the shallow water limit (kh → 0)
. (8)
 C ' 1 C = gT , in the deep water limit (kh → ∞)

g
2 4π

折射 )
2. Wave refraction (折
When the speed of a wave changes due to a change in water depth, its propagation direction
also changes. For a 2D bathymetry (海域地形), in which the water depth does not change
in the alongshore direction (沿岸方向), the refraction process obeys Snell’s law (司 司乃 耳
定律 ):
sin θ1 sin θ2
= , (9)
C1 C2
where θ1 is the incidence angle at location 1, C1 is the wave speed at location 1, θ2 is the
incidence angle at location 2, C2 is the wave speed at location 2. The refraction process is
sketched in Figure 1.
Water waves slow down as they get close to shore. Due to wave refraction, the wave
direction θ also decreases. As a result, waves tend to approach shore normally.

Figure 1: Illustration of wave refraction and Snell’s law.

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ESOE 5136 2021 May 10 - Handout Lo

Figure 2: Wave refraction and shore erosion.

波浪 淺 化 )
3. Wave shoaling (波
As water waves approach shore, the water depth gets smaller and the waves slow down.
Due to the conservation of energy, the wave height increases and the wavelength decreases,
but the wave period remains unchanged.
Consider two wave rays approaching shore as sketched in Figure 3. Under the assump-
tions that there are no reflection and energy changes, the conservation of energy (strictly
speaking, energy flux, since it’s per time) requires

E0 n0 C0 b0 = E1 n1 C1 b1 = E2 n2 C2 b2 . (10)

Using the expression for E from (6) and considering only location 1 and location 2 for
brevity, we then have
s r r r
H2 Cg1 b1 n1 C1 b1
= = , (11)
H1 Cg2 b2 n2 C2 b2

from which insights and approximations can be obtained:

• For a 2D bathymetry that doesn’t vary pin the alongshore direction, b0 = l0 cos θ0 ,
b1 = l0 cos θ1 , and b2 = l0 cos θ2 . Then, b1 /b2 can be calculated as
r r
b1 cos θ1 1 − sin2 θ1 1/4
= =( ) < 1, (12)
b2 cos θ2 1 − sin2 θ2
which indicates that on a 2D bathymetry, the wave heights will decrease towards
shore due to refraction.
In
p the case of normal incidence, θ0 = θ1 = θ2 = 0, refraction does not occur and
b1 /b2 = 1.
• If the water depths at location 1 and location 2 are both shallow, (11) simplifies to
s√ r
H2 h b1
= √ 1 , in the shallow water limit. (13)
H1 h2 b2

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ESOE 5136 2021 May 10 - Handout Lo

Figure 3: Characteristics of wave rays during refraction over an idealized bathymetry

(modified from Dean & Dalrymple 1991).

Therefore, we have derived Green’s law:

H2 h2
∝ ( )−1/4 , for shallow water waves, (14)
H1 h1

which states that the wave height increases as a shallow water wave propagates to-
wards shore.
In addition, in the shallow water limit,
r r r r s√ r
H2 C1 b1 L1 T2 b1 h1 b1
= = = √ . (15)
H1 C2 b2 T1 L2 b2 h2 b2

Since wave periods do not change, T1 = T2 , and (15) yields

L2 h2
= ( )1/2 , for shallow water waves, (16)
L1 h1

which states that the wavelength decreases as a shallow water wave propagates to-
wards shore.

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ESOE 5136 2021 May 10 - Handout Lo

4. 2DH linear shallow water wave equations (LSWE)

The 2DH LSWE reads 
∂η ∂U h ∂V h

 + + =0
∂t ∂x ∂y







∂U ∂η

= −g , (17)


 ∂t ∂x


∂V ∂η


= −g



∂t ∂y
where h = h(x, y) is the still water depth, U = U (x, y, t) is the depth-averaged velocity in
the x-direction, and V = V (x, y, t) is the depth-averaged velocity in the y-direction.
In constant water depth, namely, when h is a constant that does not change in space, (17)
can be combined into
∂2η ∂2η ∂2η
C 2( 2 + 2 ) = 2 , (18)
∂x ∂y ∂t
√
where C = gh is the wave speed. (18) is the classical “wave equation” that arises in
many other fields.
幾何 擴散) of water waves in 2DH
5. Geometric spreading (幾
Based on the linear wave theory in 1DH, (6), we see that wave energy density scales as
H 2 , where H is the wave height. For a wave propagating radially outwards in constant
water depth, as sketched in Figure 4, we can show that the wave height decreases due to
geometric spreading as r−1/2 , where r is the distance to the origin.
t=t1 t=t2

r1
r2

wave crest
travel direction

Figure 4: Geometric spreading of a water wave propagating radially outwards.

In constant water depth, the wave speed is fixed. The wave spreads in all directions at the
same speed. As a result, for a radially symmetric wave shape spreading radially outwards,
the shape remains radially symmetric. Let us consider two instants, t = t1 and t = t2 . At
t = t1 , the distance between the wave crest and the origin is r1 – the wave forms a ring of
radius r1 . At t = t2 , the distance between the wave crest and the origin is r2 – the wave
forms a ring of radius r2 . If we assume the wavelength L remains unchanged, then the
areas covered by the wave at the two instants are
L L L L
A1 = π(r1 + )2 − π(r1 − )2 = 2πr1 L, A2 = π(r2 + )2 − π(r2 − )2 = 2πr2 L. (19)
2 2 2 2
Due to energy conservation, the total wave energy – wave energy density (which scales as
H 2 ) multiplied by wave area (which scales as r) – should remain constant. Thus, we write
r
2 2 r1
H1 r1 = H2 r2 ⇒ H2 = H1 , (20)
r2
which shows that the wave height scales as
H ∝ r−1/2 . (21)