Propagation and amplitude decay mechanisms of internal solitary waves

In this paper, a modified dynamic coherent eddy model (DCEM) of large eddy simulation is applied to study internal solitary waves in a numerical flume. The model was verified by physical experiment and applied to investigate the potential influence factors on internal wave amplitude. In addition, we discussed the energy loss of internal solitary wave as well as hydrodynamics in the propagation. The results of our study show that (1) Step-depth is the most sensitive factor on wave amplitude for the “step-pool” internal wave generation method and the wave amplitudes obey a linear increase with step depth, and the increase rate is about 0.4. (2) Wave energy loss obeys a linear decrease with the propagation distance and its loss rate of large amplitude waves is smaller than that of small amplitude waves. (3) Loss of kinetic energy in wave valley is larger than that near the interface due to relative high fluctuating frequency. (4) Discovered boundary jet-flow can intensify the bottom shear, which might be one of the mechanisms of substance transportation, and the boundary layers of jet flows are easily influenced by the adjacent waves.