Tsunamis generated by underwater volcanic eruptions are physically modeled in a large three-dimensional wave basin. A unique pneumatic volcanic tsunami generator (VTG) was deployed at the bottom of the wave basin to generate volcanic tsunamis with repeatable source parameters under controlled physical conditions. The volcanic Froude number defined with the VTG eruption velocity and water depth allows to physically model real-world events from slow mud-volcanoes to explosive eruptions. The VTG generates radial N-waves with prescribed vertical stroke motions in the wave basin. Initial three-dimensional water surfaces are reconstructed for the daylighting scenarios. Smooth dome shapes are observed during the submarine volcanic eruption and tsunami wave generation, which is followed by a trough formation at the source. A concentric vertical spike is observed for a specific range of water depths, which is generated by superposition of an inward propagating circular bore on top of the wave generator. The spike can be clustered with different ranges of a dimensionless VTG parameter. With an increasing dimensionless parameter, the spike pattern transitions through three distinct categories: smooth spike, rough spike, and splash spike. The dimensionless spike height and the dimensionless vertical velocity of the spike tip are dependent on the dimensionless VTG parameters. The maximum values of the dimensionless spike height and spike tip velocity are observed in the rough spike regime among all tested experimental scenarios.
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Physical modeling of spikes during the volcanic tsunami generation
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June 2023
Research Article|
June 22 2023
Physical modeling of spikes during the volcanic tsunami generation

Special Collection:
Physics and Modelling of Tsunamis
Yibin Liu
;
Yibin Liu
a)
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: yibinliu@gatech.edu
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Hermann M. Fritz
Hermann M. Fritz
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: yibinliu@gatech.edu
Note: This paper is part of the special topic, Physics and Modelling of Tsunamis.
Physics of Fluids 35, 066605 (2023)
Article history
Received:
February 27 2023
Accepted:
May 25 2023
Connected Content
A companion article has been published:
Simulated volcano-induced tsunamis improve natural disaster models
See also
Citation
Yibin Liu, Hermann M. Fritz; Physical modeling of spikes during the volcanic tsunami generation. Physics of Fluids 1 June 2023; 35 (6): 066605. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0147970
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