Numerical investigation of nonlinear wave passing through finite circular array of slender cylinders

ABSTRACT Cylinders extend from the plat bottom of an open channel piercing the water free surface to mimic a patch of emergent vegetation and are often used as models in numerical simulations or experiments related to flow in the presence of vegetation. This work focuses on investigating the flow field structures induced by nonlinear waves passing through a cylinder patch with a diameter of DG and different solid volume fractions Φ. A 3D non-hydrostatic numerical model is used to simulate the nonlinear wave passing through the emergent circular array of slender cylinders. The instantaneous vortical structures within the cylinder patch are clearly predicted by the numerical model. The residual flow reveals abundant flow characteristics of a long term-averaging wave motion. The 3D numerical model effectively presents the spatial and temporal wave process evolution, and contributes to highlighting vegetation flows under nonlinear waves