• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.411-419
• /
• 2020

The experiment of unsteady rip current generated at the successive ends of breaking wave crests of honeycomb pattern waves was conducted in a laboratory wave basin, and its time-varying evolution was observed by using ortho-rectified images. The present experiment utilized the generation of a quasi nodal line of the honeycomb-pattern waves formed by out-of-phase motion of two piston-type wavemakers arranged in the transverse direction, instead of the original honeycomb pattern waves which are generated when two wave trains propagate with slightly different wave directions. The velocities of rip current were measured by using the LSPIV (Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry) technique. As a result, the unsteady rip current was generated between successive ends of wave crests, and evolved with its shear fluctuations in this experiment. Also, the time series of LSPIV velocity of the unsteady rip current showd its short component due to waves and its long component due to wave-induced currents.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.32 no.4B
• /
• pp.243-251
• /
• 2012

To investigate the characteristics of rip current occurring at Haeundae beach, observations obtained from a buoy and a CCTV were analyzed and numerical experiments were conducted. During observed rip-current events, the CCTV images showed that a couple of wave-trains, which are close to regular waves with slightly different directions, propagated to the beach, and wavelet analyses of data from the buoy showed very narrow-banded spectra with a peak frequency. From the evidences, it was inferred that a known mechanism of generating rip current due to the nodal line area of honeycomb-patterned wave crest was one of the significant factors of rip current occurrences of Haeundae beach. The mechanism has been explained by the following: When two wave-trains with slightly different directions propagate to a beach, wave crests of the incident wave-trains form honeycomb pattern due to nonlinear interaction. The nodal lines of honeycomb pattern are developed in the cross-shore direction. And longshore currents flow toward the nodal line area which has very low wave energy. Consequently their mass flux is expelled through the area toward the sea direction. To confirm the generation, numerical experiments were performed using a nonlinear Boussinesq equation model. In the cases with two incident wave-trains with slightly different directions and with a monochromatic wave propagating over a submerged shoal, it was seen that the honeycomb pattern of wave crests was well developed, and thus rip currents were evolved along the nodal lines.