Experimental study of the generation, damping, and reflexion of a solitary wave

In a (36 m × 0.55 m × 1.30 m) channel we did numerous experiments to study the generation, propagation, damping and reflexion along a wall of a solitary wave. The data are compared with the available analytical or numerical results. From a given paddle movement, the Inverse Scattering Method is proved to provide with great accuracy the number and amplitude of the generated solitary waves. Then, studying the damping of the wave due to dispersion and viscosity, we find that the formula proposed by Keulegan describes the phenomenon well. This last result enables us to modify the KdV equation with the second term used by Kakutani and Matsuuchi, to compute the solitary wave and tail generated by a given intumescence or a given paddle movement. We notice that the computations fit well with the experimental measurements. Finally, we study the reflexion of a solitary wave from a plane vertical wall. To obtain good experimental data requires great care, but the results agree with the analytical prediction. The reflexion appears to be a rather complex phenomenon and needs further theoretical developments. We present here some experimetal data which confirm recent numerical observations (Mirie and Su, Fenton and Rienecker).