Steep Unidirectional Wave Groups: Fully Nonlinear Simulations vs Experiments

A method was developed to carry out detailed qualitative comparison of fully nonlinear computations with the measurements of unidirectional wave groups. Computational results on evolving wave groups were compared with the available experiments. The local surface elevation variation, evolution of envelope shapes, the velocity of propagation of the steepest crests in the group and their relation to the height of the crests were obtained numerically and experimentally. The results shed additional light on the mechanisms leading to the breaking of steep waves.