EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF THE REFRACTION OF UNIFORM WAVE TRAINS AND TRANSIENT WAVE GROUPS NEAR A STRAIGHT CAUSTIC

An experimental study of gravity wave behavior near a straight caustic was carried out in a wave tank that was 4.26 meters (14 feet) square and 30.48 centimeters (1 foot) deep. A uniform wave train was generated in shallow water of constant depth and propagated toward a portion of the tank where the depth increased linearly to a value equivalent to deep water. The straight line at which the depth started to increase was at 50 degrees to the wave crests at the generation source. The waves propagated up to this line, then refracted, totally reflected, and turned back toward the shallow water. The results of the experiment show that the experimental model not only successfully produces a caustic but also verifies the theoretical results near the caustic derived by Chao (1971) within the framework of a linear theory. The same bottom model was used to examine the refraction of transient wave groups.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Also available in Journal of Geophysical Research, V77 N24, pp 4545-4554, 20 August 1971.
• Corporate Authors:

  New York University, Bronx

  Geophysical Sciences Laboratory
  Bronx, NY  United States 
• Authors:
  • Chao, Y Y
• Publication Date: 1972-5-10

Media Info

• Pagination: 11 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Coefficients; Gravity waves; Navigation; Reflection; Wave motion; Waves
• Old TRIS Terms: Shallow water effects; Water depth effects; Wave reflection coefficient
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00041749
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: Rpt # Contrib-121
• Contract Numbers: N00014-67A-0467-0012
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 19 1973 12:00AM