Breaking of waves of limiting amplitude over an obstacle

Homogeneous heavy fluid flows over an uneven bottom are studied in a long-wave approximation. A mathematical model is proposed that takes into account both the dispersion effects and the formation of a turbulent upper layer due to the breaking of surface gravity waves. The asymptotic behavior of nonlinear perturbations at the wave front is studied, and the conditions of transition from smooth flows to breaking waves are obtained for steady-state supercritical flow over a local obstacle. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 3–11, May–June, 2006.