Analysis of nonlinear water wave interaction solutions and energy exchange between different wave modes

Abstract

In this study, we consider the ideal fluid model of an inviscid fluid, assuming that the fluid motion is adiabatic; the flow is irrotational, that is, the individual fluid particles do not rotate; vorticity ω̃=0; and the flow is incompressible, in which the density of fluid particles does not vary significantly with fluid motion and can be considered constant throughout the fluid volume and throughout the motion. We start with equations representing continuity, conservation of momentum, conservation of entropy, and streamline equations, respectively. It is then reduced to a standard system of equations describing motion in two dimensions, defined by the Laplace equation with appropriate kinematic and dynamic boundary conditions, in terms of velocity potential and surface elevation. Finally, the one-dimensional nonlinear Korteweg–De Vries (KdV) equation is derived. Then, we further investigate the interaction of multiple periodic waves using the KdV equation and explain the interaction wave energy transfer procedure between the primary and higher order harmonics, and the Phillips [“On the dynamics of unsteady gravity waves of finite amplitude. I. The elementary interactions,” J. Fluid Mech. 9, 193–217 (1960)] wave resonance criterion is employed for capturing the periodic wave interaction whose energy conversion is analyzed via Fourier spectra. It is also found that for solitons, multiple collisions of different solitons eventually regain their original shape and that higher-energy solitons have faster velocities than lower-energy solitons, which, to the best of our knowledge, is overlooked.