Article Type:
Research Article

On the Disintegration of the Jet in a Plunging Breaker

Michael Longuet-Higgins Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California

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Print Publication:
01 Oct 1995
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1995)025<2458:OTDOTJ>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
2458–2462
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Abstract

An inviscid mechanism is proposed for the breakup of the jet in a plunging surface wave. Streamwise perturbations of the original surface are shown to grow rapidly owing to stretching of the thin jet and to drastic reduction in the normal pressure gradient. This converts transverse gravity waves into almost pure capillary waves. Conservation of wave action for the perturbations then implies a strong increase in the perturbation amplitude.

Abstract

An inviscid mechanism is proposed for the breakup of the jet in a plunging surface wave. Streamwise perturbations of the original surface are shown to grow rapidly owing to stretching of the thin jet and to drastic reduction in the normal pressure gradient. This converts transverse gravity waves into almost pure capillary waves. Conservation of wave action for the perturbations then implies a strong increase in the perturbation amplitude.

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Cover Journal of Physical Oceanography
Journal of Physical Oceanography
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