Lagrangian kinematics of water waves

The aim of this project is to advance the state-of-the-art concerning particle trajectories, velocity field and pressure in nonlinear water waves on water of constant depth and on water with a sloping bed. The theoretical investigation will be performed at the University of Vienna, and the numerical and experimental aspects will be developed in Taiwan. Both teams have already published recently papers on the subject and their expertise is complementary, bridging mathematical, physical and engineering aspects of the proposed research. Concerning the flat bed case the recent publications of both teams show already an advanced level of the research, in need of future development. The case of a sloping bed is practically undeveloped and of great practical importance. The expertise gained in the case of constant depth makes it realistic to also expect considerable progress for the case of a sloping bed.

The aim of this Austria-Taiwan cooperation project was to pursue a theoretical, numerical and experimental investigation of the flow beneath a surface water wave, gathering detailed information about the particle trajectories and the behaviour of the fluid velocity and of the pressure. Numerical simulations and experiments were performed in Taiwan. The scientific work of the Austrian team was devoted to theoretical studies and predictions, and the results were published in international research journals: mostly in mathematical and in physical journals but also in prominent engineering journals. The theoretical predictions were confirmed by the numerical simulations and the experiments performed in Taiwan.