Experimental Investigation of Water Wave Characteristics in a Wave Channel

A deeper understanding of the water wave characteristics is essential for designing efficient energy extraction devices. An experimental study of the characteristics of waves was performed in a two-dimensional wave channel by varying the mean depth of water and the wave frequency. The orbital motion of particles in water waves has been of interest to researchers from both academic and practical perspectives. This orbital motion, which results from the directional velocities of the particles under waves at different phase positions, was studied with particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements and compared with theoretical calculations. The kinetic energy and the size of the orbits were found to be larger near the surface and reduce with increasing depth. It was also found that the wavelength reduces with increasing frequency as well as for reducing mean water depths, while the wave height and the wave power increase with frequency (for non-breaking waves). The wave power was found to be the highest for the case of maximum mean water depth in the wave channel.