Wave breaking is an important phenomenon in coastal protection due to the dissipated energy. Such phenomenon is also responsible for the nearshore sediment transport caused by the generated turbulence and currents.
The aim of this work is to apply two different CFD numerical codes to simulate accurately spilling and plunging wave breaking. Numerically simulated free surface elevations and velocities were compared with experimental data and also with numerical results published elsewhere.
In spite of the differences that were found between the performances of the numerical models, they reproduced well the experimental data.
Depth induced wave breaking is a rather complex process usually associated with energy dissipation, splash, air entrainment and an enhancement of turbulence. The type of wave breaking is of the utmost importance, especially because it determines the level of energy dissipation. On the other hand, the location of the wave breaking and the air entrained are crucial for, amongst other effects, the associated sediment transport and for the stability of maritime structures.
The wave breaking dynamics have been the subject of a number of studies. Svendsen (1987) analyzed the turbulence in the surf zone and the energy dissipation. Rivero and Arcilla (1995) developed a formulation to evaluate the vertical wave shear stress distribution in the surf zone. Recently, Zou et al. (2006) proposed a new approach to describe the vertical distribution of the wave shear stress in a variable water depth with breaking and non-breaking wave conditions. The theoretical predictions were compared with field measurements provided by Wilson et al. (2014).
