Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026

A Microfluidic Model of Biomimetically Breathing Pulmonary Acinar Airways
Published on: May 9, 2016
Breather generation in fully nonlinear models of a stratified fluid
Kevin G Lamb1, Oxana Polukhina, Tatiana Talipova
1Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada N2L 3G1. kglamb@uwaterloo.ca
Abstract:
Nonlinear wave motion is studied in a symmetric, continuously stratified, smoothed three-layer fluid in the framework of the fully nonlinear Euler equations under the Boussinesq approximation. The weakly nonlinear limit is discussed in which the governing equations can be reduced to the fully integrable modified Korteweg-de Vries equation. For some choices of the layer thicknesses the cubic nonlinear term is positive and the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation has soliton and breather solutions. Using such a stratification, the Euler equations are solved numerically using a sign-variable, initial disturbance. Breathers were generated for several forms of the initial disturbance. The breathers have moderate amplitude and to a good approximation can be described by the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation. As far as we know this is the first presentation of a breather in numerical simulations using the full nonlinear Euler equations for a stratified fluid.
Related Concept Videos
Bernoulli's Equation for Flow Along a Streamline
Bernoulli's Equation for Flow Normal to a Streamline
The pressure difference depends on the fluid's velocity and radius of curvature. The pressure variation is minimal in flows with nearly straight streamlines. However, the...
Bernoulli's Principle
Bernoulli's principle has several applications. It is used...
Bernoulli's Equation
Energy Conservation and Bernoulli's Equation
All the terms in the equation have the dimension of energy per unit volume. The kinetic energy per unit volume is called the kinetic energy density, and the potential energy per unit volume is...
Boundary Layer Characteristics

