Three-Dimensional Simulations of Deep-Water Breaking Waves

The formulation of a canonical deep-water breaking wave problem is introduced, and the results of a set of three-dimensional numerical simulations for deep-water breaking waves are presented. In this paper fully nonlinear progressive waves are generated by applying a normal stress to the free surface. Precise control of the forcing allows for a systematic study of four types of deep-water breaking waves, characterized herein as weak plunging, plunging, strong plunging, and very strong plunging.