A turbulent bore on a beach

Abstract

A theoretical model is developed giving a moderately detailed description of the flow in a turbulent bore, the velocity profiles, the shear stresses, the energy dissipation, etc. An analysis of the flow conditions at the toe of the turbulent front indicates significant differences from the usual description based on the finite-amplitude shallow-water equations, and it is shown that the present model gives a closer description of the actual physical conditions. Finally, numerical results are presented that illustrate how the model works, and test its validity on an example with known properties.