Comparison Of Wind Wave And Uniform Wave Effects On A Beach

A series of two dimensional experiments were made in a wave channel to compare the nearshore beach profiles formed by wind generated waves with the profiles formed by periodic machine-generated waves. Although equilibrium was easily obtained in the case of uniform periodic wave exposure, it was not possible to achieve equilibrium when the beach was exposed to wind waves. Particles of neutral buoyancy and dyes indicated that the basic current systems differed in the offshore zone for the two cases. Arguments are presented to show that no theoretical equilibrium beach profile exists for the case of a beach exposed to locally generated wind waves. (Author).