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Updated: Sep 27, 2025

Measurements of Waves in a Wind-wave Tank Under Steady and Time-varying Wind Forcing
Published on: February 13, 2018
Excitation of Initial Waves by Wind: A Theoretical Model and Its Experimental Verification
1School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
Abstract:
We present a theory of evolution of wind waves in time and space under abruptly applied wind forcing that is experimentally validated in a laboratory wind-wave tank. The model describes qualitatively and quantitatively the complex wave field development from the initial smooth surface to the finite state. The stochastic nature of wind waves is treated by considering an ensemble of coexisting unstable harmonics that grow due to shear flow instability. Breaking limits the wave growth initially; the process is then controlled by fetch-limited growth duration.
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