The Drift on Top of Waves

Abstract

Wave particles move in circles, and for steep waves they also move with a drift in the wave direction. This drift can be found by second order Stokes theory. In this document it is questioned if Stokes’ theory gives reliable drift on the free surface, or if an extra term should be introduced in the equations. The CFD program COMFLOW is used to show that classic Stokes theory may be insufficient for calculating drift on the free surface.