Improved Boussinesq equations for surface water waves

Abstract

The main motivation of this work is the implementation of a general finite element solver for some of the improved Boussinesq models. Here, we use an extension of the model proposed by Zhao et al. [2004] to investigate the behavior of surface water waves. The equations in this model do not contain spatial derivatives with an order higher than two. Some effects like energy dissipation and wave generation by natural phenomena or external physical mechanisms are also included. As a consequence, some modified dispersion relations are derived for this extended model. A matrix-based linear stability analysis of the proposed model is presented. It is shown that this model is robust with respect to instabilities related to steep bottom gradients.