Confinement Effects in High-Speed Wind and Wave Interactions

High-speed wind in near-shore regions involves complex momentum exchange with high-amplitude waves, leading to wave breakups and intermittent turbulence generation. Understanding these extreme conditions is crucial for enhancing coastal community resiliency amidst global climate change. However, field measurements are sparse and challenging. Laboratory-scale experiments also face limitations due to the confinement effect of the flume on wind and wave dynamics.

To address these challenges, our research aims to establish a computational framework for simulating such extreme flows in laboratory scale by quantifying the confinement effect. We first elucidate the sensitivity factors in computational simulations of wind and wave interactions within a confined simulation domain that includes a ramp. By performing sensitivity analyses on grid quality, interface capturing schemes, and boundary conditions, we propose a robust simulation setup for gathering reliable wind and wave data in such confined spaces. We then investigate the effects of head space and flume length on wind and wave evolution. Wave growth and wind pressure distribution on the surface are quantified for different wind and wave combinations.