Surfactant-laden breaking wave: regular and spilling regimes

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wang, B., Chergui, J., Shin, S., Juric, D., Constante-Amores, C. R
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914583766106112
author Wang, B.
Chergui, J.
Shin, S.
Juric, D.
Constante-Amores, C. R
author_facet Wang, B.
Chergui, J.
Shin, S.
Juric, D.
Constante-Amores, C. R
contents We investigate the influence of insoluble surfactants on the spatio-temporal evolution of breaking waves, focusing on both regular and spilling regimes. Three-dimensional direct numerical simulations are conducted using an interface-tracking/level-set method that incorporates surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses. The simulations reveal that surfactant gradients, through Marangoni stresses, markedly alter the wave dynamics. While regular breakers exhibit only minor modifications in the presence of surfactants, increasing surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses in spilling breakers leads to pronounced changes in the crest evolution, vorticity generation, and even a transition towards plunging-like behavior. To quantify these effects, we also extend circulation-based theoretical frameworks to account for surfactant contributions. This work demonstrates the crucial role that surfactants play in the dynamics of breaking waves, revealing that their impact is primarily driven by Marangoni stresses rather than surface tension reduction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_11876
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Surfactant-laden breaking wave: regular and spilling regimes
Wang, B.
Chergui, J.
Shin, S.
Juric, D.
Constante-Amores, C. R
Fluid Dynamics
We investigate the influence of insoluble surfactants on the spatio-temporal evolution of breaking waves, focusing on both regular and spilling regimes. Three-dimensional direct numerical simulations are conducted using an interface-tracking/level-set method that incorporates surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses. The simulations reveal that surfactant gradients, through Marangoni stresses, markedly alter the wave dynamics. While regular breakers exhibit only minor modifications in the presence of surfactants, increasing surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses in spilling breakers leads to pronounced changes in the crest evolution, vorticity generation, and even a transition towards plunging-like behavior. To quantify these effects, we also extend circulation-based theoretical frameworks to account for surfactant contributions. This work demonstrates the crucial role that surfactants play in the dynamics of breaking waves, revealing that their impact is primarily driven by Marangoni stresses rather than surface tension reduction.
title Surfactant-laden breaking wave: regular and spilling regimes
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.11876