A numerical study of the evolution of a solitary wave over a shelf

Using Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, we have conducted a series of numerical experiments to investigate the evolution of a solitary wave propagating over a step. Both nonbreaking and breaking solitary waves are studied. To study breaking waves, the RANS equations are coupled with κ - € turbulence equations. For the nonbreaking wave case the numerical solutions are compared with available experimental data. The numerical experiments demonstrate that both nonbreaking and breaking solitary waves disintegrate into several solitons over the step. However, the fission processes for generating the second and third soliton are quite different for nonbreaking and breaking solitary waves.