Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-7pwfn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T13:10:13.571Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

On the structure of steady parasitic gravity-capillary waves in the small surface tension limit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2021

Josh Shelton*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
Paul Milewski
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
Philippe H. Trinh*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
*
†Email addresses for correspondence: j.shelton@bath.ac.uk, p.trinh@bath.ac.uk
†Email addresses for correspondence: j.shelton@bath.ac.uk, p.trinh@bath.ac.uk

Abstract

When surface tension is included in the classical formulation of a steadily travelling gravity wave (a Stokes wave), it is possible to obtain solutions that exhibit parasitic ripples: small capillary waves riding on the surface of steep gravity waves. However, it is not clear whether the singular small surface tension limit is well posed. That is, is it possible for an appropriate travelling gravity-capillary wave to be continuously deformed to the classic Stokes wave in the limit of vanishing surface tension? The work of Chen & Saffman (Stud. Appl. Maths, vol. 62, issue 1, 1980, pp. 1–21) had suggested smooth continuation was not possible, while the numerical study of Schwartz & Vanden-Broeck (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 95, issue 1, 1979, pp. 119–139) used an amplitude parameter that made it difficult to understand the structure of solutions for small values of the surface tension. In this paper we numerically explore the low surface tension limit of the steep gravity-capillary travelling-wave problem. Our results allow for a classification of the bifurcation structure that arises, and serve to unify a number of previous numerical studies. Crucially, we demonstrate that different choices of solution amplitude can lead to subtle restrictions on the continuation procedure. When wave energy is used as a continuation parameter, solution branches can be continuously deformed to the zero surface tension limit of a travelling Stokes wave.

Information

Type
JFM Papers
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Figure 1.Experimental picture showing parasitic ripples located near the crests of steep gravity waves from Ebuchi, Kawamura & Toba (1987) (reproduced with permission).

Figure 1

Figure 2.Our solutions of fixed energy from § 5 are shown in (a). Panel (b) shows a reproduction of the fixed amplitude results previously published in Schwartz & Vanden-Broeck (1979) (reproduced with permission). These branches of fixed amplitude are shown in the $(\kappa ,\mu )$-plane, where the boxed type number indicates the number of observed ‘dimples’ or inflexion points on a (half) wave profile. In (c) we show the type-11 fixed amplitude branch.

Figure 2

Figure 3.A numerical solution of (4.1a) and (4.1b) is displayed in physical $(x,y)$-space, with non-dimensional parameters $F=0.4299$, $B=0.002270$ and energy $\mathcal {E}=0.3804$. This has been computed using the scheme described in § 4. The periodic solution has been repeated three times.

Figure 3

Figure 4.The conformal mapping from $(x,y)$ to $(\phi ,\psi )$ is shown.

Figure 4

Figure 5.A typical component of the bifurcation diagram illustrated in $(B, F)$-space consisting of a single finger, $G_{n \to n+1}$, (shown bolded) and two side curves $S_n$ and $S_{n+1}$. This is considered at a fixed value of the energy, $\mathcal {E}$.

Figure 5

Figure 6.A single finger of solutions, $G_{13 \to 14}$, is displayed in the $(B,F)$-plane for a value of $\mathcal {E}=0.3804$. The dashed profiles in $(a)$ and $(g)$ are solutions from branches $S_{13}$ and $S_{14}$ near the bifurcation point. The (b)–(g) axis limits are the same as inset (a).

Figure 6

Figure 7.The finger $G_{13 \to 14}$ is shown against the two side branches $S_{13}$ and $S_{14}$. The two side branches terminate at points $a$ and $c$ (black circle) through the trapping of bubbles. Circles represent the locations where solutions of $S_{n}$ for $n \geqslant 15$, shown for every fifth point, become self-intersecting, found from the numerical predictions of Appendix B. The (b)–(d) axis limits are the same as inset (c).

Figure 7

Figure 8.Multiple fingers $G_{7 \to 8}$ to $G_{28 \to 29}$ are shown to form one connected branch in the $(B,F)$-plane at fixed $\mathcal {E}=0.3804$. The (b)–(c) axes limits are the same as inset (a1) and the (e)–(d) limits are the same as inset (f).

Figure 8

Figure 9.$(a)$ The corresponding kinetic (dotted), gravitational (dash–dotted) and capillary (solid) energies for the solutions from figure 8. In the two lower figures, the kinetic, capillary and gravitational energies are also shown for $(b)$$B$ vs $\mathcal {E}$ and $(c)$ branch arclength vs $\mathcal {E}$ for the solutions corresponding to the single finger $G_{28 \to 29}$.

Figure 9

Figure 10.Shown in the left subplots are the fingers $G_{11 \to 12}$ and the side branches $S_{11}$ and $S_{12}$, plotted in the $(B,F)$-plane, for $(a)$$\mathcal {E} = 0.67$; $(b)$$\mathcal {E} = 0.3804$; $(c)$$\mathcal {E} = 0.046$. Example solutions, near the tops of the fingers, are shown in the corresponding right subplots labelled $(a1)$, $(b1)$ and $(c1)$.

Figure 10

Figure 11.Two methods for numerical continuation are depicted. The starting location for continuation is denoted by a cross, and the arrows indicate the direction travelled by continuation.

Figure 11

Figure 12.The exponential scaling in (7.2) is shown (circles) for our numerical solutions by plotting $1/B$ vs $\log (y_{{ripples}})$. One numerical solution is chosen from each finger, corresponding to that of minimal ripple amplitude. From our forthcoming work, the analytical prediction (line), which depends on the value of $\mathcal {E}$, predicts a gradient of approximately $-8.2 \times 10^{-3}$.

Figure 12

Figure 13.The rescaling used to produce another solution with a smaller fundamental wavelength is shown.

Figure 13

Figure 14.$(a)$ The branch of pure-$1$ solutions displaying an enclosed bubble is shown in the $(B,F)$-bifurcation diagram. Note that we have displayed the domain $x \in [0,1]$ to demonstrate this limiting behaviour.