Bore Soliton Splash
in collaboration with O. Bokhove and W. Zweers
Onno Bokhove was asked to make a soliton in an irrigation channel for the opening of the new university square in September 2010. He said yes, but a soliton was too boring for a large crowd; therefore the idea of making a splash at the end was developed. Very quickly the team was extended to include me and Wout Zweers and mathematical theory was put into practice.
In testing sensitivity to the initial water height was observed. With a two centimetre changing the splash from 2 metre to 4 metres in height. The high splash case also contained a bore (hence the name of this experiment) and it is the complex interaction of this bore and a soliton which generates this vertical jet.
The experiment has raised many interesting question and what started as a ‘bit of fun’ is now turning into a research project, involving a PhD student, E. Gagarina.
There is current one popular science article on this experiment, [16] on the publications list, and a journal article in preparation. Also for more videos and information on this experiment, including the new mini bore-soliton splash, see website maintain by W. Zweers.
Bore Soliton Splash
Two solitons traveling down the irrigation channel. These were generated with an initial water depth of 41 cm and only generate a splash of around 2metre. When a initial of 43 cm is used a bore and a soliton is produce and the interaction of these generates a high vertical jet.