Enhanced settling and dispersion of inertial particles in surface waves

Finite-size particles demonstrate enhanced settling and altered transport under surface gravity waves. In this talk, we derive an expression for the enhanced settling velocity for particles with small to intermediate Reynolds numbers for linear wave theory under arbitrary depth. We discuss how this enhanced settling is a function of the wave steepness, wave depth, and particle parameters. In our analysis, we also show that a mechanism for dispersion exists in the system and that particles settling under waves will spread horizontally. Finally, we compare our results to experimental data which shows similar trends.