On the Description of Long Water Waves in Material Variables

Shallow water equations formulated in material variables are presented in this paper. In the model considered, a three-dimensional physical problem is substituted by a two-dimensional one describing a transformation of long waves in water of variable depth. The latter is obtained by means of the assumption that a vertical column of water particles remains vertical during the entire motion of the fluid. Under the assumption of small, continuous variation of the water depth, the equations for gravity waves are derived through Hamilton's principle formulated in terms of the material coordinates. This formulation ensures the conservation of mechanical energy. The approximation depends on the wave parameters as well as on the bed bathymetry. The latter may influence a solution of the model decisively; thus, one should be careful in applying the description to complicated geometries of fluid domains encountered in engineering practice.