Formation of solitary waves on gas-sheared liquid layers

The origin of solitary waves on gas-liquid sheared layers is studied by comparing the behavior of the wave field at sufficiently low liquid Reynolds number, R_L, where solitary waves are observed to form, to measurements at higher R_L where solitary waves do not occur. Observations of the wave field with high-speed video imaging suggest that solitary waves, which appear as a secondary transition of the stratified gas-liquid interface, emanate from existing dominant waves, but that not all dominant waves are transformed. From measurements of interface tracings it is found that for low R_L, waves which have amplitude/substrate depth (a/h) ratios of 0.5–1 occur while for higher R_L, no such waves are observed. A comparison of amplitude/wavelength ratios shows no distinction for different R_L. Consequently, it is conjectured that solitary waves originate from waves with sufficiently large a/h ratios; this change of form being similar to wave breaking. The dimensionless wavenumber is found to be smaller at low R_L, where solitary waves are observed. This suggests that perhaps, larger precursor (to solitary wave) waves are possible because the degree of dispersion, which acts to break waves into separate modes, is lower.