No label defined (Q4499459)

The authors consider the interaction between a solitary wave and an obstacle shaped as a semicircular cylinder or as an inclined wall. A complete nonlinear mathematical model of two-dimensional irrotational free-surface flows is used for the description of surface waves. The problems are solved by the method of complex boundary elements. Five different regimes of solitary wave breaking are distinguished for the interaction between the wave and cylinder, depending on the wave height and on the radius of cylinder. The same results were previously obtained by \textit{M.~J.~Cooker}, \textit{D.~H.~Peregrine}, \textit{C.~Vidal}, and \textit{J.~W.~Dold} [J. Fluid Mech. 215, 1-22 (1990; Zbl 0698.76024)]. Some numerical results are also presented for the runup of solitary waves on a plane sloping wall. The ranges of the slope angle are determined in which the solitary wave either breaks as it climbs up a sloping beach, or the wave breaks during rundown. It is shown that nonbreaking and breaking waves exhibit significantly different behavior during runup and rundown. The accuracy of numerical solutions is checked by comparing them with the results obtained by \textit{C.~E.~Synolakis} [J. Fluid Mech. 185, 523-545 (1987; Zbl 0633.76021)].