Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Engineering - Department of Mathematics and Physics

Prediction of coastal currents is becoming significant due to their crucial impact on the coastal environment. Therefore, this thesis aim is to develop a numerical model to study: a) the dynamical effects of wind stress temporal and spatial variation on coastal currents, b) the combined effects of winds and waves as two concurrent forces on coastal currents. Shallow water equations are derived to include the wave radiation stress, bed and wind stress, and used to model the two-dimensional turbulent flow in the coastal zone. The time-varying wind-driven currents are investigated first to highlight the wind forcing role. Two cases are considered: i) Oscillatory diurnal wind stress acting on an oblong basin, and ii) Slowly growing uniform wind acting on a closed rectangular virtual lake with a mid-basin island. The model used to predict coastal wave induced currents in a real basin where currents are actually measured in order to establish its predictive capability. Through comparing cases of waves only and winds only, a parametric study for the effect of concurrent winds and waves in driving coastal currents is performed on the same real coastal zone

Issued also as CD