Water breakup phenomena in wave-impact sea spray on a vessel

Breakup of water in wave-impact sea spray is examined in this paper. The formation of a spray cloud, caused by high energy striking of a sea wave on the bow or hull of a marine vessel, is dependent on the water breakup phenomena and droplet trajectories. The Weber and Reynolds numbers are key parameters defining the thresholds at which breakup begins. The model uses “stripping breakup” and “bag breakup” characteristics to demonstrate the breakup phenomena. A combined breakup model with droplet trajectories is developed in this paper to predict the extent of the breakup phenomena. The governing equations of breakup and trajectories of droplets are solved numerically. Stripping breakup occurs from the beginning of the breakup phenomenon and finishes in front of the vessel. Bag breakup completes the stripping breakup to create stable droplets with constant diameters. A sensitivity analysis evaluates the response of the model to various ranges of initial conditions. Numerical results have reasonable agreement with the size-velocity dependence characteristics at the tip of the bow. The extent of the spray as well as wet heights, obtained by the numerical solutions, are consistent with field observations reported for a Medium-sized Fishing Vessel (MFV).